Tale of the Caged Red Sparrow
by aisha12894
Summary: The life of Akane Sayuri, forced into an arranged marriage with one of Konoha's eligible bachelor's because of her father's greed cause tension between the two. But from hate would love bloom between the two? R
1. Chapter 1

"_Dear Diary,_

_ This is the first and most definitely not the last entry that I plan to put in you since my life problems will have you filled to the brim by the end of the week forcing me to buy more. I probably could start a collection about the life of a miserable fiancée and future wife to someone with power and influence. See I would have been living the best part of my twenties enjoying the traveling that my father would often do for his business ventures, which turned out to be dupes and complete failures that we or rather my father was force to file bankruptcy that made us the laughing stock of the prominent citizens of Konoha. _

_Which leads up to my current situation as I just recently learn that before I turned the tender age of eighteen that my father had legitimate gave me away to one of his trusted "business partners" who had a son around the exact age as I was. Now you are probably thinking I am a guaranteed money loan for my dad and I would look you dead in the eyes and say…you are correct! Yes, it turns out that my deadbeat father was so desperate to get his hands on money that he gave me away all while receiving installments of monetary value. So I am going to end this journal entry with these final words for today: Being a kid so totally sucks at some times."_

_ Sincerely,_

_ A trapped Red Sparrow_

A deep sigh escaped the tan face of a twenty-year-old woman who had closed the cover of her black journal that had a golden bird etched into the cover fold and produced a small silver key and stuck it in the keyhole to lock the journal contents.

She placed her tan fingers of her right hand on the silver handle and gave a gentle tug and the drawer popped open while she used her left hand to pick up the journal and placed it in the drawer and closed it back without hesitating.

Three knocks came at her wooden door, as only she knew who had that distinctive knock from all the others as she pushed the chair from underneath her lower region while standing to her feet.

The scrapping of the wood against the carpet was silenced so the person outside of the door did not know whether or not she was going to answer the door as she picked up her feet out of a habit her mother taught her whenever she would have to rely on stealth.

The girl brought her hand to the golden knob that served as the last barrier between her and this person and with no type of hesitation what so ever, she clicked it open to reveal…

A young woman with rather long indigo color hair that seem to fit her pale colored skin tone as her white pupils not only added innocence to her and not only but they showed her status as one of the prominent high class citizen but what set her apart from majority of the uppity wealth is that she has a kind heart.

"Hey there, Hinata, what brings you by my _parents _home at this time?" I greeted her in my traditional manner that I do to everyone else except with a little more…what's the word for it…oh sarcasm.

"This," she said as she shifted her weight to her left leg and reached in her back pocket to remove a white envelope with a distinctive golden seal with two red ribbons hanging from both sides.

Hinata saw that the girl in front of her eyes fell on the envelope that had her name written in elaborate cursive writing besides a capitalized "to" and a semicolon.

"I don't want that letter, Hina-chan." The girl spoke to her after allowing her eyes to meet back up with her initial eye level to show that she was really disinterested in what it had to have written in it.

"Akane-chan, you got to come, if not for your sake do it for me?" Hinata asked as her innocent look was slowly coaxing her into grabbing the envelope from her pale hand.

"Who sent you to try and convince me to go to that affair because they must have been pretty desperate if they sent you…" Akane voice trailed when she heard footsteps coming up towards where she was standing with Hinata.

Akane quickly grabbed her forearm and dragged the unsuspecting Hinata inside of her room as something was telling her that they would have need the conversation to continue in the quietness of her own private space.

"I see you did not clean up your room this morning." Hinata announced to her friend as she took a seat on the messy bed covers that was called Akane's bed.

Akane turned her wooden chair that was pulled out from her desk and sat with her arms folded across the back of the chair as she looked at Hinata with that envelope in her hand.

"Back to the previous question that I asked, did _he _send you here to come and get me? I promise you I won't get mad at you if he forced you." Akane was planning to get to the bottom of why Hinata was standing outside of her room with an envelope she know she trashed every time she saw it.

Hinata had looked around as if to see if anyone could hear what she was about to say next, "I was on my way to meet up with Naruto and _he _was there as well and insisted that I give it to you since he knew that you and I are close."

"I knew it," Akane mumbled when she found a new reason to go to whatever the white envelope had written on it.

"Wait…are you really going to go to this or are you going to rip it up and throw it in the trash like the other ones?" Hinata's voice was unsteady and even pointed at her rather full bin of white envelopes for her proof.

"You have my word on this and matter of fact you can be my date to the thing." Akane stated as she placed the envelope in front of her and slipped her fingers through the cracks of the white paper and opened it.

"Whoever wrote this has good handwriting though," Akane spoke with a serious tone in her voice as it all seem the same to her but a plan was formulating in her head as soon as she seen who sent her the invite.

"Oh I will be definitely going to this event and besides I saw the perfect dress that would so totally fit you…" Akane responded as a smirk that suggested more than what she was showing as Hinata saw the twinkle in her eye that only mean trouble.

"Yes…yes…are you doing anything today?" Akane inquired about Hinata's agenda for the rest of the day.

Before Hinata could even answer Akane answered the question for her, "I mean after all you really don't have anything plan since your father has your personal stylist on her job right now?"

Hinata eyes went slightly wide as she wondered how did Akane catch wind about her father hiring a stylist for her whenever she would attend any high standard social party. "I won't even ask how do you know that but I was going to say I did not have anything to do for today"

"Good, the sooner we start the sooner we can get finish!" Akane's tone suddenly changes from annoyed to ecstatic which sort of scared Hinata a little as when Akane change tones then something was going to happen.

"I still don't see why you had to send my poor Hina-chan to go see Akane-chan?" A young man with short blonde spiky hair questioned after pulling out a green frog wallet and produces some golden coins and placed it on the wooden table towards a man around his age with short navy blue hair whose style resembled a cockatoo's head.

"Since when did Hinata become yours, Naruto? Besides if I had sent you then she would have known off the back that I had sent you besides you did not visit your _onee-chan _in a while, haven't you?" the man stated after finishing up the rest of green tea in a ceramic tea cup before placing it back wooden table.

"Well Sasuke, if she did not have an overprotective _fiancée_, who only allow men a half of hour with his future _wife _who absolutely hate his guts, while he is sitting in the room then yeah I would just keep doing what I am doing." The boy name Naruto responded back with some of his words whispered so it would not cause a ruckus in the restaurant that was probably filled with paparazzi.

The man by the name of Sasuke rose to his feet after hearing what Naruto had just told him a couple of seconds ago.

"Aw did I hurt the teme feelings?" Naruto teased after following suit by standing up to his feet when Sasuke dug in his pocket and placed three bills on the table for the tip before the duo exited the restaurant together.

"Trust me dobe, you and any other person who have that thought in their head is completely wrong." Sasuke countered what Naruto said as they were walking down gray asphalt of the concrete sidewalk.

"So are you going to make it official at the party tonight?" Naruto inquired about what Sasuke plan to do for tonight at his family hosted party.

"Dobe, you know that my family image is going to be everywhere but now that you bring that up I should do it after all sooner or later someone is going to find out." Sasuke answered as he placed his hands in his pockets as they wait to crossover to the massive four-story parking lot that held their respective cars.

"Just remember that Akane has both a bark and a bite…trust me, I saw it happen before my eyes more times than I thought I would like to see." Naruto gave fair warning to Sasuke when they crossed the road before they entered the parking lot.

Hinata glanced over as she saw that Akane had her elbow on the in-door handle on it with her chin propped up on her right hand and she seemed to have been in a deep thought.

"Um, Akane?" Hinata asked after pulling up to a red light traffic stop when she turned to see that she still did not here her.

So she leaned over and touched her arm to grab her attention, which worked as she saw Akane had turned her head to see Hinata's look of concern on her face.

"Are you alright?" Akane could hear the concern in her tone when she asked her when she noticed that the light had turned green.

"The light is green, Hinata." Akane pointed out when she saw the shock expression that Hinata was known for as she pressed her foot down on the accelerator.

"The store is just about eight blocks from here, you go straight for three blocks and turn right at the fourth one and after two more blocks turn left and you should see it after going down three and half blocks." Akane gave Hinata directions towards the boutique as she decided to go against a nap just in case she drives down the wrong street.

"Do you think I should runaway from my responsibilities?" Akane asked Hinata as she could no longer find the answer to that question for herself.

Hinata knew something was bothering her for the moment she had found out from Akane that her father forced her into an arrange marriage that she did not want to be in to no other than a well known woman's man.

"Since when did you run away from your problem, Akane? I mean everyone who knows you like I do know that you are the main one handling your problems head on." Hinata hoped that her sincere words would resonate to her so she could get out of her slump.

"Hina-chan," Akane's voice caught her attention, which she brief broke her view from the street way to see Akane with a toothy grin that rivaled Naruto to some standards as it brought a smile to her face, "Thanks"

Hinata nodded her head as she could not help but feel accomplished for waking Akane up from her small phase of depression that is starting to happen more and more ever since that announcement her father gave to her when she had turned eighteen.

The drive was no longer quiet as the car was filled with noise from the radio that Akane had turned to after waiting for them to make a turn.

It seemed as if she had just turned it on when she turned it off and nearly scared Hinata when she saw her jumping up and down in the passenger seat as she pointed at something.

"There it is! There is the little boutique right there!" Akane proclaimed as her index finger pointed at the little white shop that had something written in elaborate writing making it harder to read if you are far away.

Hinata let out a sigh of relief, as she was glad that they were not in an accident due to Akane's sudden change of mood when she found a decent parking spot in front of the store.

Sasuke produce a set of keys from his pocket and press the button that resemble an open lock and the sound of his alarm being released allowed him to open his driver door in an upward fashion instead of the traditional horizontal fashion.

After getting comfortable in his leather seat he reached up to pull the door back down to lock and closed it. He placed the key into the ignition as the hum of the V8 engine sent a gentle buzz throughout the car when he checked his blind spots before shifting the sports car in reverse.

The parking in the parking lot was barely empty and was better than parking in front of Ichiraku's, where everyone would have known that he was there on a casual lunch with a friend.

'_I swear that dobe has a brain… sometimes.' _He thought as he pulled up to the machine and fed it his ticket stub, which caused the yellow and black tape on the guardrail to lift up allowing him to pass through without his car being dented or scratched up.

"_Well Sasuke, if she did not have an overprotective fiancée, who only allow men a half of hour with his future wife who absolutely hate his guts, while he is sitting in the room then yeah I would just keep doing what I am doing."_ Naruto's words ran in his head as if they were engraved into his cerebrum.

Deep down something inside of him agreed with the hyperactive blonde haired idiot but then again his pride would not allow him to admit defeat…especially not to _her _nonetheless.

A buzzing noise was heard before he reached over to crank up his radio and saw that his cell phone was vibrating against the vertical navy blue stripe leather suit and grabbed it in his hands and without looking at the caller ID.

"This is Uchiha, Sasuke," He made it a point to announce his last name first before his first name after all it did carry certain privileges over people.

"Mom and Dad said they need to go over the last minute details over the party for tonight…after all it is your little coming of age party." A familiar masculine voice spoke through the receiver of there phone as Sasuke saw he had the go ahead to pull onto the street way.

He held the phone away from his mouth so he could let out a frustrated sigh before bringing it back to his ear, "Alright I will be there in less than forty to forty-five minutes, so tell them to just have the books on the desk when I get there?"

"Whatever you say…after all you are calling the shots like I had to do when it was my coming out party _little brother_." The voice spoke in a nonchalant tone except when it came when he said little brother it was as if he had won a race or something.

'_What can you expect, when you the older siblings you make your younger siblings hate/love you.' _ He thought to himself when his older brother brought him out of his daze stupor.

"Well that is all I call to tell you about since mom and dad claim they are so busy in making back plans just incase if your undies show at the party. See you at home little brother." He used little brother again but this time as a cherry to top the insult of the icing on the cupcake.

"Alright than see you when I get home." And with that they synch clicked off at the same time while Sasuke threw his cell back on the passenger seat of his car.


	2. Chapter 2

"Papillon Rose? That's a unique name for the store, don't you think, Hinata?" Akane asked once she removed herself from the passenger seat of Hinata's lavender Jaguar all while locking the door behind her.

"Pink Butterfly in French, if I remember my lessons that is what that sign says." Hinata answered Akane's question while she pressed the close lock on her car keys when the car beeped signaling that she put the alarm on it so now one would steal it.

The duo entered the store through its revolving doors and noticed that women were coming out of the boutique with large quantities of clothing in their hands, when a petite teenage girl greeted them in what looked like a waitress outfit.

"Hello and welcome to Papillon Rose, my name is Sarah and if you need anything then just call for me." The girl introduced herself as Sarah with a geninue smile on her face.

"Well of course you can Sarah, my friend and I are looking for dresses for this very important event that is happening today and it's a black and white event. So we want to see this impressive collection of dresses that you have to offer to us." Akane gave her the gist of the scenario, as Sarah seem to be in thought about some ideas.

"Does price matter with your choice?" Sarah asked as if she taking into consideration what she show them after all they are paying for her bills if she gets them to buy a dress.

"The price has to match the dress, if you get what I am trying to tell you." Akane whispered as if it was a top secret and that no others should ever catch wind of what she just told her.

"I have this white dress that would fit your friend and something black for you. I'll assume that is the colors that you were going to go with, if I am wrong please correct me?" Sarah asked as Akane could not help but to admire the girl's willingness to get the job done to satisfy the customer.

"Alright than follow me," Sarah turned around and began to walk towards what looked like a restricted aisle since the rest of her coworkers seemed busy in trying to sell bright colored dresses that was fit to be in a Masquerade Ball instead of on the exclusive clothing line.

Hinata felt her cell phone in her purse when she dug inside and instantly pulled out the phone with little to no difficulty at all, and checked to see the glowing screen that had the name Naruto in big capital letters.

"Hello?" Hinata kept her tone at a whisper as she did not want to cause to much attention in the store.

"Hinata, why are you whispering? Are you in a church or something?" Hinata had to hold the phone away from her ear as Naruto was practically screaming into her ear.

"No, I am shopping with Akane for our dresses for tonight, what are you doing?" She asked when she saw that Akane was looking at her as Sarah was scouting through some racks of clothes.

"Oh, I was doing nothing because my suit won't be ready until the next half hour or so and I wanted to see what you were doing." Naruto answered her with a nonchalant tone that fit him.

"Well can I call you back later, Sarah just finished picking out our dresses." Hinata asked when she heard Naruto verbally agree before hanging up the phone.

Hinata notice that Akane had a smirk on her face after she hung up the phone "That must've been Naruto."

"How did you know?" Hinata stuttered through the question, as she knew that she was busted when she asked that question.

"You blush every time you speak or whenever you are near him at least that was how it was in high school." Akane answered with the same smirk on her face.

"Alright, I have picked out a few dresses for the both of you so you can go to our fitting room to try them on." Sarah interupption provided an escape for Hinata as she took her dresses within her arms and made her way into the dressing room first.

Right before Sasuke pulled into his family's compound, his phone vibrated against the leather seat when he looked over and saw the callerID and decided to ignore it.

'_I don't feel like talking to her right now.' _He thought as he slowed down and waved to his relative members that were the branch family with a small smile on his face before driving a little further into the compound before spotting at his home.

When he pulled into the garage he noticed that Itachi's red Mustang GTO was not there which meant he was still in route towards home or he wasn't coming at all until later on.

After finding a decent parking spot between the family cars, he shifted so that the orange stick moved down to the white capital P before turning his ignition off by turning the key counterclockwise.

He sat there for a minute as if to gather his thoughts before having to face his parents' interrogation process, when your father is the head of Police Affairs and his own company, then you would know to be mentally prepared for anything that maybe brought up.

The garage housed almost everyone car except for Itachi, who was probably trying to come up with an excuse on to miss the whole thing after all he did not like big social events or gala that came with the name of being an Uchiha, unfortunately his father was a smart man and decide to insist it in him.

But after a brief period of rebelling against being an Uchiha, that his father realized that his boys took after their mother…very stubborn, so he eased his standards but only to issue a quota that about five parties be held every year with their name star lighting the whole thing.

The sound of him initiating his alarm brought him out of his thoughts as he jingled his keys until he found a brass key and made his way over to the wooden door with a golden knob and stuck the key inside and unlocked the door.

He felt his phone ringing when he decided to check his cell phone again just in case it may be the planner, the carter or anyone else who had a hand in dealing with this big event.

'_It's her again,' _he thought, as he knew that she would think she had the advantage over him since he was ignoring her.

He took a deep breath and opened the phone and brought it to his ears before saying "Hello…"

"Oh I like this one right here!" Akane announced to Hinata who was her next-door neighbor in the fitting room.

"Well then let me see yours and you see mines." Hinata said at a much quieter tone then Akane as they were in sync when they walked out of the white cube rooms.

"You first," Akane ordered as Hinata turned in a complete circle as Akane noticed that the dress ballooned out as if it was a wedding dress instead of a nice formal dress but the color on her was very pretty.

"Nope, it looks as if you are going to go get married instead of going to a party but it's my turn…" Akane reminded her that she had to look at her dress.

Hinata noticed that her dress was mid thigh and that it showed her arm and some of her cleavage, "It's too short, and it makes you look like someone trying to go clubbing."

"Good point, next dress than," Akane joked after looking down to see that the dress was too short for the type of party that they were going to go to.

After trying on about fifteen dresses together Hinata found her dress on the tenth try while Akane went through five more dresses before deciding on her fifth dress that she tried on, "Sarah, darling we would like to ring these up as two different orders." Akane called out for Sarah who appeared in an instant.

As the pair exited Papillon Rose, Hinata undid the alarm on her luxury car allowing them to both open the door and sit down in the car as she turned the ignition on.

"See, I told you that they would have your dress there!" Akane proclaimed as she fasten her seat beat and Hinata shifted into reverse and looked in her blind spots before pulling out of the side parking lot.

While the were riding through the street that house other boutiques something hit Hinata hard as she remembered something, "You know I was only suppose to hand you that invitation, not take you out of the house."

'_Poor Hinata, he got her too? I can't blame as her friends seem to be scared of trying to defy his rules when I have no problem doing but this is Hinata…so I can't do her like that.' _Akane thought as she could see the nervousness in her eyes.

Akane placed her hand on her shoulder before saying, "I'll lie and say that I force you through blackmailing…except don't tell your dad about this since we are _best _friends after all."

Hinata was glad that some relief washed over her body because when it came down to breaking the law, she would down right refuses to be placed behind some individual gray poles for a time period of her life.

"Alright but one more question?" Hinata was at ease now as her voice was free from stuttering when she caught Akane's attention, "Who is going to do your hair?"

A smirk appeared on the raven-haired woman's face as a gleam was sparked in her eyes, "How about we swing by your house right now? I mean your father should have your whole staff there right now."

Hinata looked at her when she caught herself from asking a question that she already knew the answer to so she simply clicked on her blinkers towards her left.

Sasuke hung up his phone, as he knew that his mother would have told him to get off the phone when he entered the living room.

He saw his mother's medium length black hair that stopped at her shoulders, as she wore a white apron covering her clothes, which signaled to Sasuke that she had just finished baking something before he arrived as she had her hands in the apron pocket while relaxing against the long sofa.

His father was sitting in the love seat with his chin on his fist while his arm was propped up against the arm of the chair. Wrinkles were etched in his face to show that he had aged gracefully for a man who had a ton of business on his back but when you have a retirement right around the corner then you would look relax.

Before Sasuke could even think of trying to escaping into the kitchen his father's police instincts kicked in when he spoke up "Ah, my boy, come and sit with your mom, we just want to asked you a couple of questions."

He then found himself sitting next to his mother who did not hesitate to place a kiss on his cheek and her normal greeting for him, "So do the planner have everything in order?" his father inquired about the party.

"Yes, after all they are Uchiha and so they are in reliable hands if they fail to come through, I always have a back up plan." Sasuke reassured them, as he was use to feeling the silent but lurking anxiousness that comes from his parents' whenever it was time for them to throw a social gathering.

'_Who could blame them I mean this is sort of like my coming out party or having the crown to pass onto me.' _He thought as he inwardly rolled his eyes as he had a feeling that this was the only reason why they called him.

"Do you have your suit ready? Do you have the butler ready for your departure? Did you cut your hair? Do you have the guest list checked and double check because you know how people get when they hear something about a party. They go a little crazy." His mother was firing off questions too fast for him to even answer the questions.

He had to grab his mom's forearm in order to calm her worries, "I have everything taken care of…besides security should be the _last _thing that is on your mind dealing with the party. There is something else that you want to ask me?"

Sasuke knew that he hit the mark as his mother eyes unknowingly cut over to where his father just so happen to shift to make himself comfortable on the love seat.

"So are you going to go through with it or not, is all I am asking, because I can pull you out if you want?" his father asked him with a sincere look in his face.

Akane was humming through the entire ride bopping her head left and right and only stopoed when she exited Hinata's car and made her way towards the trunk and tapped it gently when it popped open.

"I got your dress too so don't worry about it." Akane said loud enough for Hinata to hear as she closed the trunk gently as she held the plastic bags on her forearms so the hem of her dress won't drag against the concrete.

"Ms. Hyuga, welcome home, is this a guest of yours?" one of the security guards that patrolled the huge gate that was the entrance to the main house of the Hyuga family.

"Yes, she is, her name is Akane Sayuri and she is permitted to be with me and around the house." Hinata informed him as they entered the house with no more security hassles.

"Hinata, is that you?" a masculine voice was heard asking the question when they walked past a rather large door that was made of thin white paper and small wooden frames making broad squares.

The pair pause and looked at the door knowing that since the material was nearly transparent, he could see that Akane was with him, "Yes, its me father." She confirmed that it was her presence.

"Who is with you?" Her father inquired about whom she brought into the house, as the safety of his family was something he was not going to affect him the second time around.

"It is just Sayuri, Akane," Akane voiced who she was because she heard from Hinata how overprotective he was of his family and did not believe her until she got to see to the man who stuck to his morals come out.

"Oh, it's Akane, come in dear I haven't seen you ever since you graduated." Her father's tone ease when he realized that Akane was the second shadow behind one of his daughters'.

Akane looked at Hinata and handed her the plastic bags that were in her arms, as she knew that ignoring or passing up the chance to see the head Hyuga in his place of peace was something of a rare thing.

For some reason Akane found herself holding her breath as she hope she could tell him something that would live up to his standards for her. I mean after all its not ever day that you get to talk to a man who was is master a master in self defense and one of the scariest dads' in the world.

'_Poor Naruto, he really has got to go a lot of proving towards her father if he wants to have a date with her…but something tells me that his affectionate charm is going to rub off on him. At least I hope?'_

Akane noticed that it was well lit in the small room that was being occupied by Hinata's father who sat comfortably on a pillow with his eyes closed as if he was about to arose himself from deep meditation.

"Hello Akane…"


	3. Chapter 3

"Speaking of that I thought I could ask her in front of everyone tonight, after all you do want to have the seal of approval on certain matters, at least that is what you taught me dad." Sasuke answered, as he looked his father dead in the eyes.

His mother seemed ecstatic about the words that uttered out of her youngest son's mouth as she clasped her hands together as pure bliss ran through her body.

"Oh I can't wait for the party now." Sasuke heard his mother happiness lace within her tone, as she could no longer remain in her seat on the sofa and proceeded to walk around due to her sudden burst of energy.

"Maiko, can I talk to our son more about what he plans to do for the rest of his life as a future married man?" Sasuke heard his father's baritone boomed as he asked his mother for a favor.

"I don't mind, matter of fact, I need to get started on getting ready for the party after all I got to wear the look of shock on my face when I see my son get down on one knee and purpose to my future daughter-in-law." His mother offered an excuse to excuse her presence from the men's future conversation.

"Listen son, I know what I forced upon you by accepting this idea of an arrange marriage for you was something of a business investment on a long term basis. I won't mind if you don't purpose and go find you another girl to marry on your own free will." His father once again stated the same concerns for what was about to happen to his son.

"You raise me to be sensible besides being an eligible bachelor is getting so tiresome, _'Kami-sama, I sound so much like Shikamaru…'_ Sasuke thought to himself.

"Alright, than if you say so then its official and that you are going to go through it than." Sasuke heard his dad continuous remainder that he could back out if he wanted to.

"Dad you raise me to have a mind of my own, when have I ever not shown that to you except when I was little?" Sasuke used that to prove his case, as he knew when he saw his father nod his head and sat back in the seat, he was no longer going to push the subject.

"Well I can't keep sitting around…after I do have to at least be the arm candy that your mom is in love with at the party." He joked with his son before pushing himself off of the seat with ease and ruffled his son's hair.

Sasuke heard his phone vibrate in a dot dot dash fashion as it signaled that he had received a text message from someone.

4444

Akane felt as if the air around her had been constricted the instant she stepped foot into Mr. Hyuga's meditating room where he instantly greeted her.

She nearly forgot her manners when she returned the greeting with a hello of her own before he pointed to a pillow as she kneeled into a position where she could be comfortable.

The room only had one scroll that sat behind him along with a wooden table that held a purple flower in a white vase, when a petal fell from the flower.

When he cleared his throat, her eyes cut back to where he was sitting as he had a geninue small smile on his face, "For someone to be engage to an Uchiha, you sure don't seem that way."

'_Thank you, finally someone feels my pain.' _She thought as she let her shoulders go when she continued to look at Hinata's dad in front of her.

"Why can't my dad be more like you, Mr. Hyuga, he obviously sees me as a business investment for his future investments. I mean you know him better than I do…he did not ask me if I wanted to travel and see the world with my own eyes. Ugh!" Akane could feel her anger fro her father slowly release from her body.

"Are you done, Akane-hime?" She heard Hinata's father inquired after listening to her brief temper tantrum.

Instead of verbally telling him yes, she decides to just keep her mouth close and shook her head up and down to signal a yes.

"I understand that you feel as if Kisuke-san, or your father, robbed you of your future by signing you away on an arrange marriage to Uchiha but do you think of something other than your personal hatred for your father and instead focus on everyone else?" he spoke as his eyes still remained closed when he asked her.

Akane pause and then an image of her mother pass through her head, her illness that could be resolved with the money that they would be receiving and a guaranteed loan for her father to get his business back on its feet so that her parents can kept their house and a roof over their heads.

Hiashi saw the girl cover her mouth with her right hand and could tell by the way she looked that tears would soon fall down her face, which was a rare sight for him to see…let alone anyone else.

"Akane-hime, if you know that in your heart you are going to go through with it then save those tears for your mother when you see her after the operation and see her progress to get better again." Hiashi spoke to the girl as he did not want to be the one who made her cry and have Hinata upset with him.

"You we both should be getting ready for tonight, after all, Konohagakure will be there." Hiashi stated as he rose to his feet and made his way over to Akane, who was wiping her eyes with her shirtsleeve, before placing his hand on her shoulders.

"Do you remember the first thing I told you when you expressed an interest in karate?" he asked her as he paused to look her to see she had wiped her tears away from her eyes.

"You said if I treat it as something of a sport than I won't understand the true meaning of learning any art of fighting, instead make it your passion, the fire that will never die even when you are in the afterlife." Akane looked up at him and repeated verbatim what the older man told her some years ago.

He felt her ruffle her hair while saying, "I always knew you were a good student." Before removing himself from the room with Akane a couple of seconds later.

4444

Sasuke could see a streak of red flying down the empty street way that lead to their house when the driver made a sharp turn into the driveway and hit the brakes just in time before he crashed into any of the cars.

The driver did not park in the garage and opted for them to stay parked they way they were, before turning their car off and opening the door.

An older man who looked around his late twenties but earlier thirties emerged from the car. He had long black hair that was to his neck and would have made him look feminine if he did not wear it in a ponytail style. If he were a stranger someone would have thought that he was planning to break into their house because he wore all black.

'_I swear if I would have know that he was not going to park inside of the garage then I would have left the garage door close.' _ He thought as he turned his attention from the window when his suit fell into his view when he felt his phone blare out his ringtone for Naruto.

"Sasuke, do you want me to come over there or is the limo making the rounds?" he inquired about the limo pick up process as he could tell from all the banging in the background that Naruto bumped into the wall.

"Dobe, you were there when I made the arrangements, its going to pick you up first since you are furthest away from the site." Sasuke remained his blonde hair companion of the limo arrangements before hang up the phone.

"Mom and Dad, I am home…" The voice that belonged to the driver rung throughout the house when the sounds of creaking wood signaled that the person was making their way up the staircase when he heard their voice.

"Hey Sasuke, where are you?" the voice asked as Sasuke only nodded his head in disappointment as he was glad that his father knew what his eldest son was like.

"I'm getting dressed for the party, are you still going?" Sasuke said loud enough so his brother would not have to come in his room at all.

He could hear the footsteps stop at his door before hearing his voice, "Yeah, my suit is in my old room, I had to come by and pick it up."

'_Good thing he has that much sense not to bother anyone when we are getting ready for any type of party.' _ Sasuke thought as he stuck his foot in one by one in the black dress pants and then reached for the crispy-ironed black shirt that hung from a straight hanger.

After putting his entire ensemble together, he exited his childhood room just in time to see that his father and his older brother, Itachi, emerge at the same time.

This time the attention was on Sasuke, when he saw both of them making their way towards his direction, after all he had the room near the sole staircase in the two-story mansion.

"My little brother is growing up on me." Itachi spoke in a teasing manner as he opted for a white tie and white handkerchief against his black suit like his father while Sasuke wanted to be different from his father and older brother.

"You already miss the talk I had with him…besides you two are old enough to know the guidelines for the party after all this is very important for you." Sasuke heard his dad said while pointing to him before seeing Itachi making his way down the stairs first.

"Dad, you of all people should know that if we did not behave, we would just have to answer back to you…eventually." Itachi said from reaching the bottom of the staircase with Sasuke following behind his father down the steps.

"You two got that right." Their father joked with them as they waited for their mother, or wife, to come down the steps.

"Ah this sight warms my heart." They heard a feminine voice from the flight of stairs as their eyes fell onto a woman with medium length black hair in an age appropriate dress.

"Mom?" "Honey?" the three of them were breathless which caused a smirk to appear on the woman's face when the thought of _'I still have that effect!'_ earned her a quick kiss on the lips before making their exit.

4444

Akane let a breath of air as the hairstylist that Hiashi had for his daughter Hinata, had just finished pressing her red hair as she looked down to see little to almost no hair lost takes to her new hairstyle.

"Are you done in there?" Hinata asked when she stuck her head in to see the hairdresser turn Akane around in the stool, when she caught her breath.

"That haircut fits you," She complimented both her and the hairstylist work as she was packing up her equipment in the boxes that were provided by Hinata's dad.

"And so does that dress, Naruto will be fighting all the eligible people off of you tonight." Akane teased as Hinata's face turned beet red after removing herself from the doorframe when she thanked the woman before removing herself from the stool.

"White is really your color," she complimented the indigo haired girl, who hair was style in a curly ponytail that sat on the left of her shoulder where her white halter dress that showed her arms, with a clear silk cover over the bottom part of her dress. It was as if she was a young girl but still showed her age with what she had exposed.

"You need to get into your dress, we are going to leave once you get dressed." Hinata changed the subject as she pointed to the dress that was placed on Hinata's bed.

"Good point, it won't take long," Akane answered as she made her way over to the dress and slowly stepped into the dress and with a deep breath slipped the dress over her body and gently pulled on the top edge of the dress so it would cover her feminine features.

Akane looked up to see that Hinata's eyes were wide when she saw what dress she had decided on.

The black dress was a halter-top dress that showed her arms and the top part of her chest with a deep cut midway to her back with black lace with roses designed on it but the best part of the dress is that it seem to fit her body.

"Do you have any accessories?" Akane asked as she could use a bracelet and at least a necklace when she saw Hinata wore a beaming smile as she made her way towards her closet and pulled out a bin that held what looked like thousands of necklaces, bracelets, anklets and any other known accessory to mankind.

"Take your pick, after all it is you night." Hinata suggested after standing from her bent position so she would not crease her dress.

"Are you girls almost done playing dress up?" a masculine voice asked after knocking on Hinata's bedroom door.

"We are coming Neji nii-san." Hinata knew whom the voice belongs to as she reassured the man on the outside of the door.

4444

The limousine pulled up no later than when Sasuke's dad turned around to lock the front door after making sure that security was tight and well prepared for anyone or _anything_ that may want to try their luck at entering their home.

The driver wasted no time in making his way around the black stretched car and opened the door for all four of them to enter the car to see a blonde haired man already sitting in on of the side seats.

"Good afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Uchiha, Itachi and Sasuke." The blonde hair man greeted them on accordance to how they entered the car before settling down and the driver re-enter in the driver seat.

"Honey, doesn't Naruto look absolutely dashing in his suit?" Sasuke heard his mother rhetorically asked his father who nodded his head.

"Naruto, dear," "Who is your date for Sasuke-kun's party?" his mother was always know to be nosy, as it ran through the family even Sasuke had a little of that in his personality.

"My date for tonight is Hyuga, Hinata." Naruto answered, as he knew if he showed some hesitation around Sasuke's mom, she would pick up on it immediately and would have questioned him further.

"Ah, you are taking Hiashi's daughter, how did you come by on getting his persmission?" Sasuke's father asked Naruto, as he continued to look directly at them never breaking his glance.

"Mom and Dad, can we just enjoy the evening and quit interrogating Naruto on his personal life?" Sasuke asked his parents' as he could understand the dobe's pain; after all he was raised in that household.

"Maiko, Sasuke is right, after all it is his night and we are just going to enjoy it." His father had his side but for how long, he did not know.

'_I just want this to go as smoothly as possible.' _He thought as he scanned around to see who was all in the limo with him.


	4. Chapter 4

"Are you nervous, Hinata-chan?" Akane asked as she noticed that Hinata continued to push her index fingers together showing her nervousness.

"I mean do you think that I picked the right dress? What if he doesn't like this dress?" Hinata was firing off questions left from right about her doubts in her appearance.

Hiashi cleared his throat as if he was going to speak but when he glance over to Akane, he sent a mental message that she should handle his daughter's doubts or he might make them worse than they already are.

Akane leaned over to her companion and gestured for her to come closer to her, "Yes?"

"I know without a doubt that Naruto will be fighting those other male suitors off of you even if his hands were tied behind his back. Besides you already promised me that I would have the first dance with you." Akane stated in a soft manner so that Hiashi could not hear what they were whispering.

Hiashi noticed that his indigo haired daughter nodded at whatever the raven-haired girl told her as he noticed that her facial expressions eased from her earlier look.

"I wonder what this place is going to look like…after all the Uchiha's are hosting this party." Akane expressed her curiosity as she tried to look out the window but found her dress quite restricting to a lot of free-range movement.

"Hey did you hear anything about who else is attending this party, Hinata?" Akane asked as she decided to pass the time by talking about the party, when they felt the limo come to a stop.

"Pretty much everyone from high school and their families and a couple of other people like my dad's friends as well." Hinata answered Akane's question with no signs of hesitation, which brought a smile on her face.

"It'll be like a huge class reunion, don't you think, Hinata-chan?" Akane inquired about her feelings on seeing everyone again, two years after they graduated.

"I guess you can say something like that…but you know how we act around each other so I don't think it would be any type of problems." Hinata gave her a genuine answer to Akane's question.

'_I am so grateful to have a friend like Hinata…she doesn't see anything wrong with anyone and can often see the good in even the worse of people. They can't help but stand in awe of her pure innocence. I'll be on my best behavior around her that is…'_ Akane thought, as she knew one particular person, who was attending as well, did not want her to be happy.

"What are your feelings on seeing everyone come together again for this special event?" Hinata inquired about Akane's feeling as well, since she wanted to know the answer to that question.

"It's going to be a show…I guarantee you that…" Akane laughed while her right eyebrow twitched when she laughed.

4444

"We got here pretty quickly." Itachi announced to the group in the limousine with him after sticking his head out of the window to see that they had just pulled into a long line of similar cars like they were in.

"The place that I reserved was only fifteen to twenty minutes away from the house and then you had to include the time it took to pick up Naruto. So all in all the ride was longer for him than us." Sasuke stated to his older brother when he looked over to Naruto's direction as he looked as if he was taking a catnap.

"Sasuke dear, do you mind waking Naruto up? After all we are practically here." Sasuke heard his mother instructed him as he looked over to a snoozing Naruto, as he knew that he was the close to the blonde haired dobe.

He leaned over and hit him in the head, which force Naruto up with a confused look on his face, "Uh…where am I?"

"I swear dobe you can fall asleep at the weirdest times ever! We are just a block away from the party." Sasuke belittled his blonde hair companion with his arms crossed and his left leg over the other.

"Then how about you wait for fifty minutes in a limousine without being the least bit sleepy!" Naruto fired back when they felt the car turn a corner when the driver stopped the car altogether.

"Alright everyone, be on your best behavior and try not to steal the limelight from each other." Maiko gave advice to everyone in the car when the door opened and cameras began to flash instantly.

"Well I will see you on the inside then little brothers." Itachi stated after giving them a military like salute with a smile on his face and exited out of the black limo.

The instant Itachi's feet touched the red carpet; Sasuke and Naruto swore they could hear all the women reporters screaming their lungs off for an interview with the ever-elusive Itachi.

"Well they save the best two for last I guess," Naruto joked as he made his way over to where the door was opened with Sasuke close behind him.

The flashes of the paparazzi sent a rush of excitement for both the blonde haired friend and the navy blue haired friend.

Sasuke knew how the public viewed him would be a key part in for his father to trust his business over to him, "We have seen you on more than one occasion with Sakura Haruno, from the Haruno family that owns hospitals. Is there anything more than a friendship there?"

"No, nothing more then friends besides we went to high school together and briefly dated then but other then that we are good friends." Sasuke maintained his face as he cut his eyes over to where Naruto was answering some questions.

"How long have you been knowing Sasuke Uchiha?" a reporter asked as they had a camera in his face.

"We are childhood friends so you do the math, oh wait, he can tell you himself. Sasuke come over here." Naruto's exuberant personality was still showing when he flagged him down.

'_What does this dobe want now?' _he thought as he wondered what Naruto had up his sleeve in order for him to call him over there.

"These lovely people would like your confirmation on how long have I known you?" Naruto asked as he had placed his arm around his friend's shoulder.

"Ever since we were little, isn't that what you told them?" Sasuke asked as he had looked at Naruto, who had a look of satisfaction on his face.

"Let's go in," Sasuke told his friend who still had the wide smile on his face, as he knew he took pleasure in proving that the media had something wrong.

4444

Akane could no longer help her curiosity as she wondered when they were going to arrive, "Driver, how far are we away from the designated place?"

"Yes, we are just in a line of limos, ma'am." Their driver responded with a polite tone as Akane silently grew nervous just like Hinata had did earlier when they were in the car.

"Dad, do you want to get out first? After all we can escape the press when they noticed that you are there?" Hinata was serious with her question when she asked her father.

"Sure I don't see why not, but if you do get caught, you have Akane right there with you." Hiashi reassured his daughter when they felt the car turn a corner and pulled to a complete stop.

"We are here." The driver said as she exited the driver's seat and made her way around the silver limousine and opened the rear door allowing them to exit.

Like Hiashi said he would, he exited the car, when the girls could tell from the flashes of the cameras that there had to be tons of paparazzi to cover this event.

Akane had to scooted over to the edge as she lifted herself from the white limousine with ease before turning around to extend her hand towards Hinata, who was making her way out of the car.

"As you can see Konoha Hyuga family has been completed with the arrival of retired Martial Artist, Hiashi Hyuga and his daughter Hinata Hyuga. It seem as if her friend of some odd years now, Akane Sayuri is along with them. There has been rumors floating around about the crash of the Sayuri enterprise but obvious that is not true if she has appeared at this event. Let's see if we can get them for interviews." A woman reporter for a gossip column reported towards a video camera.

"Ms. Hyuga looking stunning in white and Ms. Sayuri looking fabulous in black, can we ask you some questions?" the woman asked them when they were briefly passing over.

Akane looked at Hinata who nodded her head, "I don't see why not then, ask away?"

"Is it true that you have been seeing Sasuke Uchiha?" the woman asked as she stuck the microphone towards her direction.

"I mean yeah, we had classes together when we were in high school so I was force to, it was so unfortunate, too." Akane skillfully dodge the answer to that question.

"Is there any truth to your father's business collapsing due to fraud, blackmailing and poor financial records?" the woman asked again as she extended the microphone towards Akane.

"Wow, you people sure do have a lot resources in order for you to come to that conclusion? I must say lady; you should be promoted from the gossip column to the news." Akane joked with the woman as this caught her offguard because she never did answer the question.

"Well I wish we could continue to have this conversation but it seems as if we are needed inside." Akane gave her parting words with a wave of her black-gloved hand.

Hinata looked at Akane with a look of confusion etched in her face, "Why did you tell that reporter about your business?"

Akane could tell Hinata wasn't skilled at talking to the press, "Well I actually did not answer any of her questions. I gave her the run around and when she thought she had the right answer I made it seem as if she was wrong with her guess."

Hinata could not help but look in awe at what Akane just told her, as she made sure to commit that to memory for later usages.

"Hinata!" "Akane!" a female voice was heard when they saw a bob of pink hair and green eyes in a black dress that stopped at her knees and was an off the shoulder dress with ruffles at the end of her dress as well as the sleeve.

Akane prepared herself for whatever may happen between her and the pink haired woman that was making her towards them.

"Hinata," Akane whispered to the indigo haired girl as she looked up at her taller companion, "Yes, what is it?"

"It was only for some people that I would be glad to see here except for one person…" Akane could not finish her sentence when the pink bob of hair was now standing next to them.

"It's so good to see you two again, and my don't you two look like the stunning couple there is here." The pink bob complimented as she hugged Hinata, while Akane merely air kissed both sides of her cheek.

"I must say Sakura-chan, that dress does suit you." Hinata returned the compliment to the pink haired girl whose green eyes shone with what looked like anxiousness.

Sakura had broke from them to look at herself and even gave her a twirl to show off her shape in the dress, "Why thank you, I got it from this new boutique called Papillon Rose. Ino had showed it to me a while back and I thought that their dress their would suit me."

Hinata was about to say something when Akane was quicker than her, "My, we should visit that shop for another occasion like this, shouldn't we Hinata?"

Hinata could only nod her head in agreement as Akane held her hand steadfast as Sakura began to look at the both of them with a confused look in her face.

"Is there something wrong?" Sakura asked the raven-haired girl who only nodded her head in a no fashion, so she could erase in hints of how she hated the pink haired woman guts.

"Well everyone is here and has taken their seats, do you want me to take you to them?" Sakura decided to ignore what just happened before stepping aside and pointed to where everyone they knew were seating down or were seated.

Akane knew she had to separate herself from the pink haired witch as something was off about Sakura and only she got the notion of it. "You go ahead we'll be right behind you."

"What's wrong Akane?" Hinata asked when she looped her arm through hers and with a smile on her face escorted her down the steps.


	5. Chapter 5

Sasuke and Naruto were occupied at their table with some of their old friends when they noticed that a pink haired woman was making her way towards them.

"Sasuke-kun and Naruto-san, when did you two get here?" the pink haired woman asked after approaching the half empty table.

"Ah come on forehead, I told you that they were here before you walked out or don't you remember?" a girl with long platinum blonde hair and turquoise eyes asked after adjusting her white dress so it won't crease while she sat.

"I am sorry Ino, but I was not paying attention to you when you ramble on about certain things, dear." Sakura stated when she took a seat to the left of Sasuke.

"Hey Sakura-chan?" Naruto leaned pass Sasuke in order to make eye contact with the pink haired girl, "Did you see Hina-chan?"

"Same old Naruto, always asking where my cousin was, why don't you go find her yourself?" a male with long brown hair that was pulled into a low ponytail as his black suit seemed tailored for his shape asked after hearing the blonde's question.

"Neji-niisan, then that means you know where she is then?" Naruto turned to the male named Neji to find him with a woman on his arms, "Is he the only person, you see Naruto?"

"TenTen, that's you?" the blonde haired man asked, as he never saw the brunette haired girl with her hair down but rather in two buns that sat on top of her head.

The woman name TenTen nodded her head to confirm it was her, "It's good to see you all doing well for yourselves, where is everyone else?"

"Well, Shikamaru is over there talking to Kankuro, Gaara and of course Temari, Chouji is over their assaulting the buffet table, Kiba went to the restroom, Rock Lee went to talk to Gai-sensei, and Shino I don't know where he went." Ino gave the specific locations of everyone that was missing at the table except Shino.

"I don't know whether or not to be crept out that you know all of that information." Naruto muttered as everyone except Ino would silently agree with his statement.

"Come on Naruto, now you know that Ino was known for having her nose in everyone's business." A voice stated when Naruto and the rest of them saw a male with spiky brown hair and black slit eyes stated, when he took a seat to the left of Ino with a smile apparent on his face.

"What is that suppose to mean you mutt?" Ino asked as she pinched her nose out of disgust, which caused the crowd to break out into laughter due to the nostalgia feeling that was brought along with that action.

That was when it hit Naruto, "Ino-san, have you seen Hina-chan?"

The question brought a smile to her face when he asked her, "I should be a little hurt, Naruto that you did not ask me earlier. Why she is coming down the steps now along with Akane-chan."

Ino knew the look of shock would hit him soon as well as for Sasuke-kun and without a doubt it happened.

"My, my isn't this just a lovely gathering of beautiful and handsome people that I have come to love during high school. This just makes my heart swells with Kohona High pride!" a woman sarcastically spoke when they approached the white cloth table.

Neji, TenTen, Kiba, Ino, Sasuke, and Naruto looked to see a red haired woman with a black dress with her arms locked within an indigo haired woman with a white dress.

"Hina-chan? Akane-chan?" Naruto stuttered as he saw the two women currently standing behind him when he felt Akane put her hand on his head of hair and ruffle it, messing it up.

"Hey, why did you have to do that onee-chan?" Naruto asked after being treated in a child-like manner by Akane.

"Simply because I had to after all I did have to fight off five other people that tried to get close to _my_ Hina-chan." Akane stated as she had grabbed her chin pulling her closer to her lips when she could see Naruto protest by waving his hands in front of him with his cheeks red.

Akane could not help but laugh at Naruto's action, "You know you can really act like a little child sometimes, but that is what makes you so adorable."

Naruto caught himself this time as he scratched his cheeks out of being caught, "I…I…"

"It's okay Naruto, you of all people should trust me with Hina-chan, and stop being so selfish with her will you? I would like to have my special alone time with her too." Akane stated as she had tighten her hold on the indigo haired woman before releasing her.

"Akane," she looked up to see Ino waving at her to come over to where she was sitting at with Kiba to the right of her as the scene brought back memories of the two.

"Neji and TenTen?" Akane greeted the brunettes with a smile on her face when she saw Neji and disbelief when she noticed TenTen with her hair down to her shoulders.

"Hello Akane-chan," TenTen returned the greeting to the red haired woman when she took a seat across from where she had just left Hinata with Naruto.

"My lovely Ino, how have you been these pass two years?" Akane greeted her with a European style kiss, with an air kiss on both cheeks.

"The same as always, you know father really wants to get my head in the business of managing our chain of floral boutiques worldwide while I am just content with growing them." Ino answered after she took a seat in front of her.

Akane raised her hand to the white carnation that rested behind her ear on a tucked strand of her hair, "Remembrance, huh?"

"It seems as if I had rubbed off on you, I didn't want you to reveal the meaning behind this flower." Ino whispered to her red haired companion who merely wore a smile on her face.

"Its okay though, I won't tell, but you picked the right one this time." Akane stated after removing her hand from the flower in her hair.

Akane noticed that Ino's eyes cut over to where Sakura was having a conversation with Naruto, Hinata and Sasuke. "It looks like the old time between those four but you and I already know that it doesn't matter tonight since you are going to be the one with the ring on _your_ finger and not hers."

Kiba could overhear what the women were talking about when his eyes fell on their topic of their conversation when a thought pass through his head, _'What does she have plan for them?'_

"I know you and Sakura have been friends longer than I have been with you. So I don't want to put you in a rock and a hard place but if Sakura is willing to trample over my toes to get something she wants then I'll manhandle her." Akane's voice was low but it was dark as well when she spoke to Ino.

She nodded her head to show she agreed with what Akane just told her, "Akane-chan!"

'_Wait a minute…that voice sounds too familiar…' _Akane thought when she turned to see a slightly older man with spiky brown hair and purple marks on his face.

'_Kankuro.' _She thought as she had her forearm up and her eyes wide from pure shock at the man who had called out her name.

Akane looked around for her options on escape but found her dress very constricting to a lot of movement when she knew she was trapped when she felt Kankuro's hand over hers.

'_All I have to do is give her my infamous smile and nod and she will fall for me.'_ Kankuro thought as he hoped his playboy instincts were still in use.

Before Akane could respond to Kankuro's action, the band begin to start playing when an escape plan was in her sights, "Hey Hina-chan, remember you own me the first dance." She stood up quickly forcing Kankuro's hand off of hers.

"Kuro-kun, can you hold this seat for me? I'll be back to give you a round of a dance with me." Akane joked when her eyes cut over to where Sasuke was sitting to only find out that he had his eyes on her the whole time.

"Akane-chan!" Naruto protested which was quickly quieted by Hinata, herself, "It's okay, I did promise her and I would like to keep to my promises Naruto-kun."

With her gentle nature, Hinata, managed to diffuse any type of confrontation that may have had transpired between Akane and Naruto, as a genuine innocent smile was on her face.

Naruto watch as Akane led his date down the small staircase, which consisted of seven steps to get to the ballroom floor.

"Sasuke," Naruto spoke over his shoulder when he saw Neji and TenTen making their way towards the dance floor along with Shikamaru and Temari even Kiba asked Ino for a dance, which she accepted.

"It's just one dance you dobe, surely you can last through that, can't you?" Sasuke asked as he already had a feeling that his blonde haired companion was going to ask him.

"No, its not that," Naruto spoke when he saw Rock Lee with Sakura on the dance floor while Akane and Hinata were dancing circles around them with smiles of pure joy graced their face. "Sakura-chan, is starting to become rough with her actions."

Sasuke sipped on the white wine that was in his cup before placing it back down on the white cloth table with his eyes closed, "Its quite obvious that even you picked up on it. I am surprised she did not exchange some words with her archenemy."

"Sakura, wouldn't be that dumb enough to pull something here…would she?" Naruto asked as he kept Hinata and Akane in his sights along with a smiling Sakura.

"Who is to say? She was known for her stubbornness and quick temper while Akane is always going to remain cool, calm and collected. I want to see which one of them will snap first and attack the other?" Sasuke said while he had placed his chin on his interlace hands.

"Sakura," a man appeared in front of them as Naruto had nearly jumped out of his skin when Sasuke looked up to see Shino completely covered up. "She already has enlisted the help of both Kankuro and Rock Lee but I don't think either one of them are willing to go through with her plan. After all they consider Akane as a good friend."

"Thanks for the information Shino, I know I can count on you for that." Sasuke told the man before noticing he had already removed himself from their presence.

"Come on Naruto," Sasuke said in a tone that made it sound like it was order, as he removed himself from the seat and made their way down towards the ballroom floor.

"Well Hina-chan it seems as if our little fun is about to end, so thank you for allowing me the first dance." Akane kissed her on her cheek when she saw Naruto and Sasuke approaching them fast.

"Excuse us, may we cut in?" it was Naruto's voice that asked the question, when Akane noticed Hinata's eyes sparkle from anticipation of their next action.

Hinata and Naruto soon disappeared from her view when she saw that she was faced with the youngest Uchiha who was soon to become her future husband. She stood there with her arms folded across her chest, as she wanted to bear a hole within the man standing before her.

Akane saw him take a step towards her when she took a step back from him, when she saw that a smile was apparent on his face from seeing her action. _'What does he have plan?'_

She felt his palm at the back of her back forcing her to come into the hold when his right hand enclosed her right hand before starting them off with a spin.

"Dear, look at Sasuke-kun and Akane-chan," Maiko tapped her husband's arm and pointed towards the ballroom to see the next generation of Konoha elite dancing away to the classical music of the band.

"It seems as if they are having a conversation with each other." Maiko heard her husband response when they both noticed their lips were moving.

"You look nice tonight, I am surprise you showed up." Sasuke started off their small talk when he took a step forward while she took a step backwards.

"I had no other choice but to come because someone would have sent their guards and take me by force anyway, but thank you for the compliment." Akane responded back when she felt him spin her again before bringing her back into his frame.

"Then you won't object to what I have in mind," He spoke in a cryptic kind of way leaving her a little confused, "What is it then?"

"I actually have two things to suggest to you, the first one is that in twenty minutes, I want you to go to that side of the stage." Sasuke used his head to point to what side of stage he was referring to.

Akane wondered what was he planning to do when she found herself agreeing to his first set of instructions, "Since you want to get out of your house so bad, when you get home pack a overnight bag and I will pick you in the morning."

'_What the heck? What does he have plan in order for me to need an overnight bag?' _she thought as she realized that if she say no then her father would force her to go.

Sasuke noticed that whatever Akane was thinking that it was not going to work when he noticed she looked up at him. "Alright then…but on only one case, if I do accept you have to take me wherever I want to go."

He merely nodded his head to show that he agreed with her suggestion when they heard the band end the current song they were dancing to.

"If you will excuse me I need to go use the little girls' room." Akane stated as she bowed out from her position with Sasuke before turning and headed off to the restroom.

When she let out a heavy sigh a thought came to her head, _'Was I holding my breath the entire time?' _

Sasuke merely wore a smirk on his face, as everything was falling into place when he felt someone staring at him towards his right and before he could turn his head completely that person had turned away.

'_I wonder what those two were talking about?' _a thought passes through the person's head that was just looking at them.

"Will you excuse me please, I have to go and powder my nose." The person used as an excuse as her current dancer partner nodded his head in agreement before the fully separated.

Hinata, Ino, and Temari noticed that Akane and someone else just left the dance floor around the same time and heading in the same direction.

Somehow all three women seem to think their was something was about to happen and so they excused themselves from their dance partner.

"You two saw it too?" Ino inquired when she saw the dirty blonde haired female to her right and the indigo haired woman to her left.


	6. Chapter 6

Akane made her way pass the restroom door that had the little stick woman with the dress on as the only thing that was on her mind at the moment was using the restroom.

She pushed open a stall door before closing it and slid the silver holder to hold it in place. _'I wonder why Sasuke wanted me to go by the stage for?' _

Sakura made her way inside of the restroom while surveying the area when she saw Akane's black high-heeled shoes in one of the stalls.

'_Good, she is where I want her.' _ Sakura thought as she made her way to the last stall before it opened up to where the sinks and what looked to be a waiting room was.

She inhaled a deep breath, spread her feet till they were shoulder length apart and channeled her anger into her fist and then the only sound that was heard was a loud wham.

'_What the world?' _Akane thought when she saw the stall wall closing in on her, as the first thing that came to her mind was to cover her head.

"Do you two have any idea where they could have went?" Temari asked the two women in front of her as they had lost sight of both Akane and Sakura in the crowd.

"Is it me or did you hear a loud noise just then?" they heard one of the party attenders asked as they had paused in front of the woman's restroom.

"Come on you two I think I know where Akane is," Ino stated to the other two women when they made their way towards the restroom.

"I see we were abandon on the dance floor, let's head back to our seats." Naruto suggested when he made his way over to a standing Sasuke with his hands in his pockets.

He turned and made their way back to their seats as something was bothering Sasuke about the whole encounter with Shino and the information he just told him about Sakura.

"You really are concern about what Sakura might do to Akane-chan, aren't you?" Naruto inquired about the look on his face when he took his seat again.

"Akane! Can you hear me?" Hinata asked when they entered the restroom and no response was given at all.

Temari and Ino made their way in further when they saw that the stalls collapsed when a groan was heard underneath the wall, "Hinata, I think we found her."

Hinata ran into the restroom when she saw Temari and Ino helping Akane out from underneath a pile of rumble.

The sound of running water caught their attention as Ino made her way towards where the sinks were to find Sakura washing her hands and drying them. "Oh Ino, when did you get in here?"

'_Could she have done it?' _was the first thought that ran through her head when she heard her name being called by Hinata.

"If I heard you had any part of doing what you did to Akane, you know I'll come have a talk with you." Ino threatened as she turned her back on the now smiling pink haired girl.

"Are you alright, Akane?" Ino asked when she saw that Temari and Hinata managed to help Akane to her feet and was dabbing her face with water to keep her awake.

The red haired woman managed to nod her head a yes when she heard the question when she felt a headache coming on. "What happened here?" another voice was heard when they saw it was TenTen, who had entered the restroom.

"Someone had attacked Akane and we don't have a clue who it is." Temari answered the brunette woman's question while TenTen observed the damage that was done.

"Well they had to be strong since it takes a lot of power for the stalls to come out of the bolted hinges, so it could have been a man who snuck in here and was surprised when Akane came into the restroom." TenTen offered her take on how the whole situation went down while Temari and Hinata continued to work on Akane.

"Oh I just remember something…" TenTen spoke up again but this time it was Ino to ask her, "What is it?"

"Sasuke asked me to get Akane, he said she would know what to do when I told her he wanted to see her."

Akane pupils grew large as her question from earlier was about to be answered, "Thank you ladies for worrying about me but it is going to take more then some shabby old restroom stalls to keep me down."

"Are you sure you can walk on you own?" Hinata inquired after seeing Akane stumble a little when they let her loose to walk on her own.

Akane turned to her with a smile and her thumb pointed upwards while her other fingers were bent into the palm of her fist, "I got it. I will go to the hospital after this but for now you should get back out there and enjoy the party."

0000

"So are you going to go and do it?" Naruto asked when he saw Sasuke rose from his seated position and briefly looked at his blonde haired companion and nodded his head before leaving their area.

"If you lovely ladies and gentleman don't mind, we have some words from the person who put this entire party together for us to enjoy ourselves, Sasuke Uchiha." A man briefly appeared on the stage before Sasuke made his way onto the stage.

"Hello and thank you all for coming out tonight, I have a announcement that I would like to make, Akane Sayuri, will you join me on stage." Sasuke spoke in the microphone as this had caught Akane and all those who did not know what was about to happen next off-guard.

A security guard that patrolled the stage aided in helping Akane on to the stage as she was wondering what Sasuke had in mind at the moment, "I wanted to this the proper way in front of family and friends so…"

He reached in his pocket all while taking a knee, when Akane swore she heard everyone in the audience responded with an awe from the familiar action, when she felt her breathing stuck in her throat after opening the top of a black box with the massive ring inside of the holder.

"Akane Sayuri, will you do me the honor in becoming my wife?" there it was there was the million dollar question that even Sasuke had to hold his breath for when he grabbed her hand.

As much as she was not ready for this moment, she knew that sooner or later that it was going to come but she wasn't mentally ready. _'Think about what it would do when you do accept it then it would make it easier on you and your mom.'_

The conversation that she held with Hiashi-sempai zoomed through her head, "Yes, I do." He slipped the ring onto her finger and rose to his feet to hug her within his grasp.

The crowd exploded into cheers of hoorays at the future of Sasuke and Akane joined together by marriage, but it only seemed to roll off the stoned Akane.

"You must let me see that ring!" Akane was bombarded with some of her closes friends after making her way off the stage with what felt like a five-ton burden.

She felt her hand being guided towards the women level of eyesights when they nearly blinded themselves as the light gleamed off of it, "Why didn't you tell us that you and Sasuke were dating?" TenTen was the first to break the silence.

Hinata knew the real reason why Akane had to accepted the marriage proposal from none other than Sasuke Uchiha, when her eyes traveled over to where Sasuke was with the group of men talking.

"Akane? I didn't know you two were dating." Kiba expressed his shock after seeing Sasuke propose to Akane Sayuri in front of everyone that attended school with him and her.

"You two were like fire and ice and always at each other throats." Neji stated as he had a gut feeling something had to happen in order for Akane to agree to something like that without a argument.

"I am proud of you, marriage brings out the eternal youth between two lovers." Rock Lee stated as his eyes gleamed like stars when he spoke.

"Women are just troublesome to marry." Shikamaru stated as he stifled a yawn by covering his mouth with his free hand.

"I can't believe that you would be the first person to be married among us, Uchiha." Gaara spoke to him after hearing the news of their engagement.

Sasuke stifled a laugh as he could not help but think that both Gaara and Neji had a point, "Ah, I can't believe you are going to be taken my Akane-chan away from me." Kankuro muttered with a playful tone of sadness.

He felt someone touch his shoulder and looked up to see it was Shino, "She never did belong to you."

'_Wow, Shino spare no cost at letting him down easily.' _ The group except for Kankuro and Shino thought when another voice was heard over the microphone.

"As tough as an act that would be to follow after my son proposing I would like to bring this party to an end with some more exciting news." Sasuke turned to see that it was his father along with his mother alongside him on the stage.

"By the end of next year, I will have turn my company over to my son but I will still be there to advise him after all my retirement is right around the corner." Sasuke's father announced as the cheers and praises continued to roll in for Sasuke.

"Well looks like the party is over with, see you guys later!" Kiba and Shino, well mostly Kiba, spoke to the group as they each shared handshakes for their way of saying goodbyes.

"Hinata, can we leave my head is throbbing?" she whisper to the indigo haired girl who stood the closes towards her.

"Alright ladies, it has been a fabulous and stylish night, we need to get together more often but until then, ciao!" Ino said after exchanging hugs within the group of close and intimate friends and warm smiles.

"Do you think you will be able to wait here until I go find my dad?" Hinata inquired about her health when Akane pulled up a seat to sit down on and shooed her off to go get her father.

"You look pale." She looked up to see Sasuke was the source of the voice that spoke to her.

"I am so surprised that you care so much about my health, Uchiha." Akane spoke with sarcasm as she leaned back in her chair when the thumping in her temples along with his presence irritated her more.

"Well I don't want you to catch a cold, besides I have to hold up the end of my bargain with you. What time do you want me to pick you up?" he asked her when he saw her eyes roll.

"I'll be ready by one o clock, does that work for you?" Akane asked as she only wanted one thing and that was to get as far away as possible from the man sitting in front of her.

"Just be careful and on alert I don't know how some people will take to the fact that you have that ring on your finger." Sasuke stated when he saw her placed her arms on the table and her chin within her propped elbow.

"Listen to me Uchiha, I am more than capable of taking care of myself when it comes down to these catty females, okay." Akane was slightly offended at the notion that Sasuke thought she could not protect herself.

"I am not worried about you, I don't want you to kill anyone of these girls okay." He corrected her statement before he was about to leave.

She was caught off-guarded once again by Sasuke's unpredictable nature when she felt as if she need to apologize because of her rude behavior. "I am sorry I just have a headache that's all, oh and congratulations on taking over your family company."

He was taken aback by her sudden confession to him, "Its yours too." Before walking off back towards where his parents were.

Hinata came up a couple of minutes after Sasuke left her, "Are you alright, you look flushed."

Akane realized that she was blushing around Uchiha when she felt her cheeks and they were indeed hot, "It is a little hot in here, did you get Hiashi-sempai?"

"I am right here, Akane, we can go back to our house and have one of our chauffeurs drive you home." Hiashi suggested to Akane who merely nodded her head to show she understood the plan when Hinata helped her out of the chair.

"I can't believe that my baby brother had the guts to do it in front of all those people." Itachi teased his little brother while ruffling his hair with his hand.

"I am so proud of you Sasuke, I can't wait to help Akane out with the wedding details. It will be so lovely." His mother said as a backdrop of what looked to be stars were apparent.

"Your mother gets like that whenever she hears the word wedding but for now we are just going to go back home and unwinded from all this partying that we did." Their father spoke as the group agreed before making there way out of the building.

0000

"So Akane did you enjoy yourself?" Hinata asked as she saw her red haired companion observing her ring.

"Oh, yeah I did." She hesitated to finish the rest of her sentence when she realized that she was once again looking at the huge rock that sat on her finger.

"A future Uchiha, in the making my dear, you will make a fine wife to him." Hiashi gave his opinion on seeing Sasuke and Akane as a married item.

"Dad," Hinata exclaim after hearing his opinion on the matter, "Hina-chan now you yourself know that is true, I think he knew what he was doing when he wanted you to have an arrange marriage with that fellow.

'_A future Uchiha…Akane Uchiha…Uchiha Akane? It does kind of have a nice ring to it.' _ She thought when she felt her headache coming on again this time it was stronger than when she was around Sasuke.

0000

Sasuke only watch the passing scenery while his mother chatted away about some ideas of the wedding when the only thought that passed through his head was the look on Akane's face when she saw him on his knee.

'_She looked as if she saw a ghost. It was priceless…but I wonder what Sakura had planned for her?' _he thought to himself as he did not notice that Itachi was observing his movements.

'_Akane Uchiha…Uchiha Akane…it sounds kind of nice.' _He thought once again as he could not wait to get out of that tux.


	7. Chapter 7

"Buzz" "Buzz" "Buzz" the sound of an alarm clock blared when Akane rolled over to hit the snooze button when the noises cease.

'_I need another alarm clock…one with a pleasant alarm.' _She thought as she sat up in her bed when she raised her hand to her eyes to wipe the cold from her eyes.

The events of what happen last night flooded from her memory banks when she felt her hand become heavy once again, _'That's right he had propose to me at the party.'_

She raised her lift her left hand to see that she had removed the ring from her hand, _'I wonder where I put it?'_

Akane rolled out of her bed until her feet came into contact with her carpeted floor before pushing herself out of her queen size bed.

"What time is it?" she asked more to herself after giving her back a good stretch, which earned a muffled yawn when her eyes fell on her digital clock.

The bright red numbers read one twelve semicolon zero zero, _'It's twelve o'clock already? When did I set this alarm.' _

Akane ran to her closet and pulled out a dark purple duffle bag and filled it with three outfits, one was what she was going to wear for later in the day or if they were going to go out on the town, the other one was her pajamas, and last a day outfit.

'_I need to take a shower.' _She thought after smelling a funny odor coming from her body once she finished packed her undergarments in the bag.

Akane was too busy on trying to make it on time that she did not hear the doorbell ring, when her father made his way towards the door.

"Who is it?" he asked before looking into the peephole to see his future son-in-law standing at his front door.

He wasted no time in opening the door and welcomed Sasuke into his home before closing the door, "How have you been Sasuke?"

"I have been fine, do you know if Akane is up?" He asked her father as he had a look of surprise from his question.

"You can go on up and check on her if you want. Her room is the first one on the right when you make your way up the stairs." Akane's father gave him instructions on how to get to her bedroom.

"Thank you, Mr. Sayuri." Sasuke thanked his future in-law when he made his way up towards the second floor of the two-storied house.

'_The first one on the right.' _He repeated the directions that Mr. Sayuri gave him when he came face to face with Akane's room.

To his surprise he found it unlock and knocked before opening the door, to see Akane making her way out of her private bathroom with curlers in her hair.

"I see that you are still getting ready, do you want me to just wait for you downstairs?" he asked while making his rounds on her room.

"Did I ask you to take a personal tour of my room?" she asked highly upset that he had invaded her last place of solitude and sanctuary from him of course.

"It's nice. I am surprised that you do not have anything pink, fluffy, or cuddly in your room." Sasuke answered when he made his way over to the desk that was besides her bed.

'_Pink? Fluffy? Cuddly? What is his definition of a girl's room.' _Akane thought to herself when she unrolled the curlers from her hair and placed them near the sink.

"Not all girls' bedrooms look like a princess room besides I barely spend time in here so it did not matter to me how it looked." She responded when she saw where he had stopped.

He had picked up the engagement ring that he had given her last night and seem to admire the ring, "I am not surprised that I do not see this around your finger right now."

Akane had bent to reach her overnight bag when she heard what Sasuke said "I sleep wildly so I took the ring off so I would not lose it."

"Well then if you are ready to go, I do not see any point of wasting anymore time." He spoke before turning towards and made his way over to where she stood.

"Here this is yours." He handed her the large ring in his right hand when she looked to see that he had an unreadable look on his face.

She reached for the ring and placed it on her right ring finger in a similar fashion he did last night, "Oh I have to say bye to my mother."

'_That's right I almost forgot about her mother…' _he thought after making their way out of her room to see her run down the hallway and gently knocked on a door before disappearing behind it.

"She is always so concern for her mother's health." Mr. Sayuri told to Sasuke after making his way up the staircase to where he was standing.

"I see that she is." Sasuke answered as he would have never thought that the man before him could be Akane's father since he sold his daughter into an arrange marriage.

The door opened and closed again when Akane saw Sasuke talking to her father about something,

"See you later." Was the only thing that she said to her father while going down the set of stairs and out of the house.

'_I wouldn't blame her for acting that way towards her father…' _he thought when he saw her waiting for him at his car.

He undid the alarm, which allowed her to open the door when she saw that the doors open upwards, _'This car doors are…awesome!' _she thought when she sat in the car.

"You know you didn't have to be so rude to your father." Sasuke stated once he made his way inside of the car and in the driver's side.

"Why do you care about the way that I treat my father? He is not your dad." Akane responded back after clicking her seat belt to fasten before looking out of the window.

"You have a point, he is not my dad but he was just concern about you." He answered after cranking up the ignition.

"Why do you care so much about my family problems? Did I ask you to ask my personal life, I do not think so." Akane's irate of both her father and Sasuke was becoming one causing her to have a bigger headache.

"What about you? Is your family perfect as they appear?" Akane asked as her anger was slowly coming down from pure rage.

"Nope, not really, my older brother is involved with an underground Mafia, while my dad is an ailing old man, and my mother can not cope with being alone so she tries to keep me or Itachi at home as much as possible." Sasuke answer with a nonchalant tone when he spoke to her.

"So you are not a happy camper either." Akane joked with him as she was surprise at his answer.

She would have just assumed that the Uchihas' would have been one big happy family but her guess was as good as wrong, "Well what do you want to do today?"

"I want to go to the amusement park today with Hinata, Ino and the rest of my friends!" Akane answered as she sound like a little kid.

Akane waited for his protest but she received none whatsoever, "Wait a minute are you sure I am not sitting in the car with a replacement?"

He looked over to her to see her facial expressions to be serious "Why would you think that?"

"You are being too nice me now, that's not like you." Akane answered while turning her face away from him.

"I told you last night that if you went along as plan, then I would allow you to get out of the house and do whatever you wanted and I plan to stick to that promise." Sasuke reminded her of what he had told her.

'_Is he actually being nice to me?' _she thought as another thought pass through his head, _'May this could be his act on trying to lure me to the dark side.'_

"Well aren't you going to call them?" Sasuke asked her which snapped her out of her current thoughts about his behavior.

Akane looked at her hands before answering, "I sold my cell phone to help aid with some bills."

"Is that why you don't have a car either?" he asked after pulling up behind a car on a red traffic light.

"Yeah, I had one but when my mom's condition was getting worse I sold it so I could help with her initial treatment." Akane answered when the light changed green.

"Well you can borrow my phone to call Naruto, if you can't remember Hinata's number, it's in the glove compartment." Sasuke replied when his attention returned back on to the road.

Akane leaned over and press the button that popped the glove compartment down and just like Ssauke said his cell phone was right there.

"Just press and hold three and his number should be on speed dial." Sasuke gave her another set of instructions before turning on his left signal.

Akane held the number three and Naruto's name and number popped up and had a glowing circle signaling that it was making a call. "What is it teme?"

"Nope, he is driving at the moment, this is Akane." She answered, as she was not surprised that the two friends still called each other _dobe_ and _teme_ to this day.

"Akane? What are you doing with _teme_, are you two going a date?" Naruto asked as Akane felt her face turn red.

"No! Why would you think that?" Akane asked when she realized she had set herself up for what Naruto was about to say.

"Uh, maybe because you two are going to be married, that's why I said that onee-chan." He answered.

"Well I called you because I need Hina-chan number."

"May I ask for what reason?"

"Do I have to tell you? I mean do you not trust me enough to just give me her number?"

"Uh, if you just answer the question, this process would go so much smoother."

"I wanted to go to the amusement park today and I wanted to ask her would she like to go."

"Oh I would like to go to, what time are you guys going so I can tell her."

"So now you want to use that as an invite but we are going at four…oh and tell her to tell Ino for me."

"Alright thank you, love you too." Akane said while laughing before hanging up the phone and placed it back in the glove compartment.

"I did not know you and Naruto still call each other _dobe _and_ teme_." Akane stated when she realized that they had parked in a parking lot with other fancy looking cars.

"Some habits are hard to grow out of, you can get your bag we are at my house." He told her after turning off the car and unlocking the doors.

'_There is no possible way this whole place is his…' _she thought after reaching in the back for her duffle bag and made her way out of the car.

"I am a little jealous at the fact you told the _dobe_ you love him but I can get over that." Sasuke said while waiting for her to catch to where he was standing.

"What?" his statement had caught her completely off-guard that she nearly tripped over her own two feet.

'_Did he just openly admit that he was jealous of the dobe.' _She thought as she decided to keep quiet about what he just told her and follow him.

Akane decided to look at her surroundings instead as she saw cars that were still in the making in the parking lot, "I have to stop by the front desk to pick up my mail and then I will show you my home."

"Oh…um yeah sure." She answered when the sound of an elevator bell brought her out of her thoughts to see Sasuke had boarded already.

"I am surprised you do not live in a house." Akane stated when she was rocking back and forward because she was become bored by the minute.

"I could have if I wanted to but a house would remain me of something a married couple would share and not someone who was single at the time." He answered while leaning his back on the elevator's wall.

Before she could respond to his statement the elevator dinged and opened to show white marble floor, a revolving door as its entrance and exit, and a wooden circular desk that had two males working there.

"Ah, Mr. Uchiha, how may I help you this afternoon?" the one with green hair greeted them or rather Sasuke when he approached the desk.

"Yes, Ukito-san, is there any mail in for me?" Sasuke asked the man name Ukito when he nodded his head to confirm his question.

'_He used an honorific for him? He must have Sasuke's respect in order for him to use –san.' _She thought when she saw the green haired man produce a white box that held Sasuke's mail.

'_I don't even receive that much mail for my birthday! What is up with all that mail?' _Akane thought when she saw Sasuke place the box underneath his arm and turned to face her.

"Let's go, Akane," he snapped her out of her thoughts when she ran to catch up to him.

"If you want you can ask me why I have so much mail." Sasuke asked her after seeing the look on her face when she saw the box of mail he had at the front desk.

Akane was taken aback at the fact that he was able to read her actions when she thought she had a private moment to herself.

"I really don't care if you do receive a lot of mail, it doesn't really effect me." Akane snap back when he pushed a button on the elevator and up they went.


	8. Chapter 8

The sound of elevator music flooded the small space that the elevator took up while Akane rocked back and forth on her heels.

She glanced over to see that Sasuke was leaning to one side of the elevator pinning the box against the wall.

"Ding" was the sound of the bell when the elevator's door slid apart from each other as a door caught her eye.

"The top floor," Sasuke told her while he dug in his pockets and produced a set of keys and then stuck a bronze colored key in the similar color knob.

He pushed the door open after hearing a click noise before turning towards where Akane was standing before replying "Ladies first,"

'_So now he wants to be a gentleman.' _Akane thought when she slightly hesitated to take the first step into the apartment.

She was slow to intake his entire living room and kitchen combo as it seem to look as if it was…normal.

"Are you surprised that my home is actually nice?" Sasuke asked before locking the front door back and made his way to where she was standing.

Akane had turn to face him when she saw that he had placed the mail on the living room couch before making his way towards the refrigerator in the kitchen.

"Yeah, it seems as if your mom had decorated it for you." Akane answered while continuing her observation of Sasuke's apartment.

"I can't even get a little credit?" he asked while peeking over the door of the refrigerator.

Akane shook her head in a no fashion before tossing her bag on the sofa while she sat down near her bag, "Do you have something to drink?"

"What do you want? I got juices, sodas, and water." Sasuke asked her while he pulled a juice box out for himself.

"A soda please, it doesn't matter to me." Akane answered over her shoulder when she notices that he had a rather large and flat television.

"Here you go." He handed her an ice-cold strawberry soda while sipping on a tomato juice box.

"How can you drink tomato juice? That is so nasty!" Akane exclaimed after reading the label of the box he was drinking.

"Well unlike you I don't like sweets that much so my refrigerator is filled with some of this stuff." He answered when he lifted the box and shook it gently before taking another sip of the juice.

Akane lifted the aluminum cap top and took a sip of the cold and refreshing soda that tingled her throat when she drunk it.

"What time do you want to leave for the amusement park?" Sasuke ask still not taking a seat in the living room.

She looked around before looking at her watch, "3:30, is that a good time?"

"It's your choice after all I still owe you that favor, but anyway, you can put your stuff in the guest bedroom." Sasuke replied before crushing his juice box and made a successful shot in the trashcan.

Akane rose to her feet and grabbed her bag and followed Sasuke towards the guest bedroom. "How many bedrooms do you have?"

"Two, I have a master and a guest bedroom and a small storage room." Sasuke answered over his shoulder when Akane looked to her right to see a door cracked open.

'_I wonder what is in there?' _Akane thought to herself as her curiosity was spiked when she had to stop herself from running into Sasuke's back.

"Here is your room." Sasuke proclaim while he twisted the knob of the door and pushed it open and moved out of the way so she could enter.

Akane had a pretty good guess at how the layout of the guest bedroom would be, "If you need anything then I am on the second door to the left."

She nodded her head before stepping pass the door's threshold and placed her bag on the bed.

When she heard Sasuke's footsteps going in the same she tip toed to her door and peeped out of the door to see him enter his room with the door closing back.

'_I got to see what is in that room.' _She thought when she snuck out of the room and slowly made her way to the open door before pushing it open to see cello sitting in the middle of the room.

Akane stood in awe at the item and was actually surprised to see an instrument in his home. _'I never would have thought that he would have played the piano.' _

She made her way over to the wooden instrument when she noticed that there was some dust on the wooden portion of it.

'_I haven't been here since…I was five.' _She thought while she rested her lower area in the provided chair and gingerly placed her right hand underneath the neck of the instrument before lifting it up.

She separated her legs wide enough so that the cello would rest comfortably within her legs and leaned over to pick up the bow.

When she released a held breath her hands seem to have had sudden life to them and moved on their own with any type of thought.

"_Akane! Akane, you have your cello lessons to go to." The sound of her father's stern tone almost made the little girl giggle and give up her position._

_She peeped from behind the sofa, which was narrow enough for her to slip in but with the cost of limited movement force her to stay still._

_Her father had paused and let out a sigh of frustration after checking his daughter's room, the bathroom and even him and his wife's bedroom._

_Akane wore a wide smile on her face with her right hand underneath her left hand so she would not allow her laughter to escape her mouth so she would not be found._

_Akane's dad sixth sense was tingling, which meant that Akane had to be near, but how near…that he does not know._

"_Now you don't want to have your mother wasting her energy on coming down to listen to you practice today, know do you?" Akane's father asks to no one in particular._

_The small shift of the couch caught his eyes, when he saw a bob of red hair and tan arms emerge from the behind the couch._

"_Mommy's going to watch me today?" a smaller version of the red haired Akane asked while shimmying out of the tight spot._

"_Yes and you are already late so get going." Akane felt her father's hand on her shoulders and gave a gently gave her a push towards the direction of the other den._

Sasuke heard some noise coming from his storage room and wondered could it be Akane playing the instrument information.

He made his way back into the hallway and sure enough he could hear the sound of the cello being played.

Sasuke peeked his head into the door and saw Akane and her hands moving the bow across the set of strings as if she been through years of rigorous practice.

Her body seems to move to the song that she was playing while her foot gently tapped the white-carpeted floor underneath her foot.

Akane heard a squeaking noise and abruptly ceased in her actions when she looked up to see that Sasuke was observing her from the threshold of the door.

She looked as if she was caught red handed with her hand in the cookie jar, "I am sorry that I touched your stuff without permission."

"No, it is fine actually because it was a gift from a family friend and I have not touched it in a while." Sasuke answered while coming in the door.

Akane quickly placed it back into its original position without causing any damage to the cello and rose to her feet.

"I did not know that you knew how to play an instrument?" Sasuke stated with shock in his tone when he asked Akane that question.

Akane stared at when she answered his question, "My dad use to make me take the lessons since he wanted his daughter to be well versed in instruments."

"Back then I thought he wanted me to be a musician but I soon realized that this idea would thoroughly impress potential suitors that did not fall for my charms." She finished off from her previous statement.

"Well your father may have had a ultimatum when he was raising you but your father is right especially if the family had a musical background of some sort. So he was making sure that you were well rounded." Sasuke stated his opinion of her past situation dealing with her father.

"I realize that after growing up a little bit…next thing I know my father is enrolling me in Konohagukare High or affectionately know as Konoha High." Akane responded after sighing and rubbing the temples of her head.

"Before you take a trip down memory lane how about you call Hinata to see whether not she will be able to make it." Sasuke suggested to her before shifting his weight to another foot.

"Oh, how could I forget?" Akane turned around with a shock expression on her face before making her way pass Sasuke.

He could not help but laugh inwardly at the look she had on her face, _'It was simply priceless.' _

0000

Due to all of the excitement that occurred last night allowed Hinata to sleep like a baby once she completed her evening routine.

Her morning was like any other morning where she would sit down with her family and enjoy breakfast with one another, though no words are exchanged.

"So dad what do you think about Akane's pending marriage to Sasuke?" Hinata asked her father when the silence had gotten to her.

"I think that those two really compliment each other even though you all may say "Are you looking at the same thing?". It is just that opposite attracts on another," her father answered her question,

"If you say so dad, Akane is not the type of person who would hold her tongue or whatever is on her mind." Hinata reminded her of Akane's action.

"I realized that so it is going to have to be up to Sasuke to put an effort forward towards that matter. All we have to do now is wait to see if we will be seeing a white envelope with Sasuke and Akane's name on it inviting us to a wedding." Hiashi, answered his daughter's cast of doubt of that couples predicament.

Once they finished enjoying their heart breakfast her phone rung with a distinctive ringtone, caller ID picture, and a ten number were all signs that Sayuri Akane was calling her.

She learned to never hesitate when it came down to Akane simply asking her about going to a amusement park in a nearby area of her.

"Sure I do not see why not? Do you want me to invite the others?" Hinata asked into the phone.

"That would be good. I especially want you to talk to Ino so she could invite everyone else out? Do you think you can do that for me?" Akane answered.

"Sure I do think that it would be too hard to do that for you." Hinata answered.

"Alright thank you so much, love you and see you later." Akane said her usual ending towards Hinata.

"Love you too Akane and I will see you later." Hinata responded back before hanging up the phone.

'_Something tells me that today is going to be a long day.' _ She thought while looking at the phone before making her way towards her bedroom.

"I'll assume that the look on your face must mean she must have said yes then." Sasuke stated while leaning on the hallway wall silently listening in on her conversation with Hinata.

"Hey were you just listening in on my conversation too! I would appreciate some privacy1' Akane exclaimed after hearing Sasuke's statement.

"You would have probably continued to tell a lot if I did not say anything to disturb you." Sasuke stated while his eyes still set on Akane.

"Whatever, if you really wanted to listen in on my conversation then you could have just told me to put it on speakerphone so you could hear her." Akane answered before throwing the phone towards him.

"Oh, it seems as if I made you upset. I really was not listening to your conversation?" Sasuke admitted before pushing himself off the wall after catching his cell phone in his right hand.

"Why not just entertain me by answering this question. So what exactly were you doing then, Uchiha?" Akane asked for the real reason.

Sasuke placed the cell phone in his pocket before looking at her to answer the question, "I was simply looking at you."

His answer caught her off guard as her face glowed a bright red, "What exactly is that supposed to mean? You are weird Uchiha!"

He could not help but inwardly laugh at Akane's reaction after she was so insistent on hearing the answer to her question.

"What kind of answer is that!" Akane's tirade of shyness continued, "I was simply looking at you?"

'_This going to be a funny day today…' _ he thought while watching her storm around his apartment.


	9. Chapter 9

Hinata moved about her closet with her cell phone attached to her ear, "Ino it is me, Hinata."

"Of course I know it is you silly, you know it is called Caller ID." Ino's voice was heard on the other end.

'_Still blunt as ever…' _she thought to herself after hearing Ino's statement.

"Akane asked me to call you because she wanted to know if you wanted to go to the amusement park today around 4:00?"

"Oh…that sounds like a wonderful idea! Maybe I should call other people so they could join us to?" Ino asked more towards herself then Hinata.

"Akane wants you to spread the word about today too. Call me back when you get a set number so I will know how much food I would need to make for today." Hinata answered before hanging up the phone.

"Hinata, there is a visitor for you in the guest room, he claims his name is Uzumaki, Naruto." The sound of her butler was heard while she was in her closet.

"Please tell him that I will be down in less then five minutes. Promise." Hinata relayed her message on to her butler who nodded his head and removed himself from the door's threshold.

'_I did not expect for Naruto to come over so early?' _ She thought to herself before deciding on some clothes that she wanted to wear for today.

'_I just hope he does not cause too much of a problem before I can get down there.' _She thought to herself since she knows Naruto's nature.

0000

A young woman around the age of twenty years old with long blonde platinum hair that was styled in a ponytail was currently running on a treadmill.

'_I wonder why Akane is planning to get everyone together? Maybe it is because she is getting married soon?' _she thought to herself before hanging up her cell phone and placed it in the holder.

'_I just don't get it? Well I guess since I am in no place in getting married soon…' _She thought to herself while increasing the speed on the treadmill.

"Oh…Ino, I see you are still trying to keep in shape even though you will still be a fat pig." A familiar masculine voice stated breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Whatever you stinky mutt, have you tried taking a bath or a shower lately?" Ino answered with her fingers pinching her nose and waving the bad smell away.

"No because me and Akamaru just came back from working out so I was going to take a shower but being the polite one I had bought you some food back." The voice answered back before placing the plastic bag on the outdoor patio table.

"Let me guess, you got nothing but junk food _again_." Ino claimed before stopping and hopping off of the treadmill.

"Ah come on, you have to see what I got you. I think I did a good job this time." The voice proclaimed while Ino rubbed the sweat off her face with the towel before looking in the bag.

'_Instant noodles, dog biscuits, chips, sodas, candy…granola bars, protein shakes, vegetables and water.' _she thought after looking through the bag contents once again.

She looked up at her brown haired companion with a look of disbelief on her face before looking through the contents once again to see if she was imagining things.

"See I told you that I was getting better at it." The male stated with pride and a swollen chest.

"You are so right Kiba…you are getting good at this." She complimented him by rubbing her hand across the top of his head like a dog.

"Well I do, do my best. Wait weren't you just on the phone with Hinata a couple of minutes ago?" Kiba asked Ino once she picked up a granola bar and peeled the wrapper from it.

Ino took a bite of it before answering his question, "Yeah, she was telling me about something that Akane wanted to do with everyone. She wanted everyone to go over to the amusement park today."

"The amusement park? Akane asked that of you?" Kiba asked in disbelief when he heard two things that did not go together at all.

"Yeah believe it or not, she wants to do something and bring everybody together again. I think it has to do something with her getting married soon." Ino suggested before biting into the granola bar again and chewed it.

Kiba scratched the back of his head, "Personally they both have twisted minds and now that they are planning on having a future together I would look out for everyone else but maybe because she just wants to see everyone again."

'_What if what Kiba says is true? I mean it is possible but whose knows what goes on in Akane's mind.' _She thought to herself after hearing what Kiba said.

0000

"I don't mean to interrupt your tirade but don't you think you need to get dressed?" Sasuke asked Akane while she was still on her anger tirade.

"Eh?" Akane paused in her statement after hearing what Sasuke told her.

"Oh man how could I forget that…" Akane said out loud to herself while running pass Sasuke and locking herself inside of the guest bedroom.

'_I swear she never cease to amaze me.' _He thought to himself before deciding to get dressed as well.

A couple of minutes later…

"Are you ready to go, Akane?" Sasuke asked with khaki pants, a black jacket with blue shirt with a red and white fan on the front of his shirt and blue and black shoes.

"Yeah…I just need a couple of more minutes that's all." Akane said through the closed door.

"Alright then I will be at the front door," Sasuke told her before turning towards the direction of the door.

The door clicked open and out came Akane with a long green shirt that billowed over blue-cuffed shorts that stopped mid-thigh. She wore a white jacket and green and white shoes with her hair pulled into a ponytail.

"Let's go then!" Akane exclaimed before thrusting her fist in the air, "I am so excited to go to the amusement park!"

'_It's as if she is a little kid all over again…well it would be no fun if she was not this eager.' _He thought to himself.

"Then what are we waiting for then?" Sasuke added in his own opinion before holding the door open for Akane.

0000

Hinata made her way down towards the guest room where her butler placed Naruto there to wait for her.

'_I hope Naruto contained himself…' _she thought to herself when she decided to pick up on her pace when she heard Naruto laughing.

Hinata opened the shoji door as quickly as possible while saying, "Naruto-kun, I am ready to go."

She saw her father was entertaining Naruto with a joke or something before noticing his daughter's presence among them.

"Ah Hinata, I was just having a nice conversation with Naruto. It seems as if we haven't had a decent talk in days." Her father stated.

"I agree it seems as if the party that the Uchihas's threw for everyone ignited some old friendship flames." Hiashi finished his statement.

Naruto bowed his head out of respect before declaring, "It was nice to have a talk with you again Hyuuga-sensei."

He returned the gesture with a smile on his face, "Same here and take good care of my daughter, Naruto-san."

Naruto flashed Hiashi his famous smile and thumbs up, "Rest assured you can count on me!"

Hinata saw her father give him a final nod before they left the guest room, _'I guess father enjoyed himself last night around his old friends.' _

"Hey Hinata, how many rides are we going to ride today?" Naruto asked her with child like innocence in his tone.

"I don't know yet…but before we get going I need to make a stop alright." Hinata asked once they were walking through the hallway.

"Sure I don't see why not." Naruto answered with a yes like statement.

0000

"Hey mutt, can you hurry up!" Ino shouted through the hallway of their apartments while placing on her white tennis shoes over her yellow knee length socks.

The sound of Kiba bumping into the walls was more like the signal that he was almost ready.

'_I swear he is going to make a hole in these walls.' _She thought while rubbing her temples with her index fingers.

"And you claim that I am always late wherever I go?" Ino asked him once he made it to the door.

She noticed that he had on a black sleeveless shirt, with baggy pants and black tennis shoes, "That is because you take fifteen minutes just for make-up…do I need to go on?"

"Not really though but do you think you can wear something with a little more color in it?" Ino asked after looking at Kiba's ensemble.

Kiba looked down at his clothes, "Nope I prefer what I am wearing, sunshine." He teased her.

Ino wore a bright yellow top that had a smiley face on it with blue jean shorts. She wore red, blue, orange, and green colored bangles and yellow knee high socks and white tennis shoes.

"You look as if you are a big kid since you have on all those bright colors and your hair up in two pigtails." Kiba gave her his view on her outfit choice.

"Good that is what I was going for. Let's go I do not want to be the last one to get there." Ino said before unlocking the door.

0000

"You actually look normal for once, Uchiha." Akane stated after looking at what he was wearing

"Why do you say that? I mean I am pretty much normal every other day." Sasuke responded with a look of confusion on his face.

"I mean I am so use to seeing you in suits and ties but to actually see you in regular people clothes…" Akane's tone held obvious awe.

"So you think I don't own _regular_ people clothing so what do I own?" Sasuke asked after hearing her put emphasis on the word regular.

"Eh, why do you always turn it back on me, it was just a simple statement Uchiha." Akane complained about his previous question.

"So was this statement a compliment or an insult?" Sasuke asked, as he wanted to make sure he was hearing her clearly.

Akane leaned over and turned on the radio to drown out any further possible conversations she might have with Sasuke.

'_I can't believe that he just turned that one little statement go into a whole conversation? Ugh I can not stand him.' _Akane thought with irritation evident in her thoughts.

'_Well it seems as if it won't be a boring day today?' _Sasuke thought to himself with a small smile present on his face.

"Did you call and make sure that all the people that you invited to this little get together are still coming?" Sasuke asked Akane.

"Eh, how can I forget something that important!" Akane exclaimed while shooting forward looking for the cellular device.

'_Well maybe there is a little something there that makes her non perfect…' _Sasuke thought after seeing her reaction to his statement.

"You might want to buckle up." He warned her once she managed to retrieve the cell phone from the glove compartment.

"Sasuke, what do you plan on doing?" Akane asked before seeing this psychotic look on his face.

"Why I plan on being the first one there. After all I do have a nasty little habit on trying to be the early bird to get the worm." He answered her before turning his attention back to the road.

'_I don't like that look he had on his face.'_

0000

The amusement park was buzzing with groups of teenagers, couples who wanted to enjoy the day and families who were making family memories throughout the day.

Not only that but the screams of excitement as the riders on the roller coasters entered the loops and corners of the fast roller coaster.

It was just another beautiful day at the amusement park when the sound of tires screeching was heard.

"Sasuke, aren't you going to slow down since we are in a fairly _crowded_ parking lot?" Akane asked after hitting the corner for the entrance hard slinging her to the left.

"I mean we did drive all the way here as if I was a racer driver so why stop now? They should veer for the car not for the pedestrians." Sasuke stated before shifted the car into the next gear.

'_Okay maybe there was this in Sasuke all along…' _she thought after she released her breath after avoiding a group of teenagers entering the park.

"Oh…" his voice broke her out of her thoughts.

"It seems as if I have found a parking spot and so did someone else. I wonder who will claim the parking spot first?"

"Don't do it…" Akane closed her eyes, as she did not want to see the outcome of what was going to happen.

"Hey you can open your eyes now. We arrive at the amusement park." Sasuke announced with a grin on his face.

'_Yeah with you nearly killing me to get me here.' _


	10. Chapter 10

Kiba and Ino makes their way through the apartment's reserved parking lot for those who live in their apartment complex.

"I wonder whose all there yet?" Ino asks before they stop in front of Kiba's black truck as she had to rounded the large truck to get to the passenger side.

Kiba fishes inside of his pockets for a couple of seconds before reaching for his keys, bringing them into the palm of his hand, and hit the unlock button allowing them both entrance without the alarm going off.

"Knowing Sasuke, they are probably the first ones there…since he has a first person complex because he is an _Uchiha_." He answers Ino's question before sticking the keys in the ignition cranking up the car in the process.

"You know what, Kiba," Ino says catching the brunette's attention. "Now that you mention it, he was usually the first one in class, at lunch, to get dress for gym class or anything else you can name that we did in school."

'_At least not one thing yet…' _he thought after hearing Ino rationale about the complex that Sasuke displayed.

"I didn't know if it was instilled in him earlier on in his childhood but sometimes it is really creepy." Kiba responds with a weird look on his face before shifting the car into drive.

"But is it as bad as we are making it sound though? I mean we are always the last ones to arrive some where." Ino proclaims to Kiba when they merge into the street way.

"I do know what we were first at though…" Kiba declares with a wide smile apparent on his face as his statement causes Ino's face to turn a bright red.

Ino no longer looked Kiba in his face after his previous statement "How about we talk about something else…did you ever hear about what happened to Akane during the party?"

They stopped at a red traffic light before Kiba looks direct in Ino's face, which was still tinted pink on the cheeks area, _'She still can't be embarrassed about that, can she?.' _

"No, care to tell me what happened then?"

"Well when Hinata, Temari and I entered the women restroom, we saw Akane underneath the stalls walls not moving for a couple of seconds. We got her from underneath the rubble and found that she was still conscious. We did not want to tell Sasuke until we had some actual physical evidence on who actually did it to her." Ino gives him the hyphenated story.

"Wait a minute…so what you're telling me is that someone attacked _Akane _at _Sasuke's _party and no one bothered to tell him?" Kiba clarifies before turning his attention back to the road in front of him.

Ino nods her head in a yes manner, "Yeah. We figured that it had to be a female but the weird thing that happened was Sakura was in there with her."

"So do you think that there could be a possibility that _Sakura_ could have been the one who attacked Akane in the restroom?" Kiba inquires after hearing Sakura's name being mentioned, as the person who was alone in the restroom along with Akane.

"I mean she would have had the motive to do it. Since it would have put her around the same time she was alone in the restroom with Akane. When we saw her head in the same direction that Akane was heading in we went in to action." Ino answers.

"So her time matches up with Akane's. I wonder what she could have been doing in there with her?" Kiba inquires unaware that he could be asking a private question about Sakura.

"After we recovered Akane, we heard the dryer running and I made my way around to see her drying her hands as if nothing happened." Ino relayed what she saw from the actions of Sakura in the restroom.

"So are you saying that you know what her motive is?" Kiba question before making a right turn and taking the ramp on to the exit for the highway.

"You didn't know about the bad blood between Akane and Sakura? Sakura definitely doesn't approve of the arranged marriage between Sasuke and Akane. I think she figured out the little details on how it was arranged and is trying everything in her power to stop it from happening."

Kiba face displays shock and awe, "You didn't know _that _much about Sakura's personality?" she question while looking at his face.

"That is a surprised. Who would have thought that she would have become such a vengeful person in order to do that." Kiba states his opinion about the pink haired girl.

'_You don't even know the half of it…' _Ino thought as she decides to keep the secret she knew about Sakura to herself.

0000

"Wow...this seems like a lot of food, Hina-chan. Are you sure that this is enough for everyone?" Naruto questions as the servants were placing coolers carefully in the back of Naruto's trunk so it would not spill over ruining his carpet.

Hinata wears a smile on her face since she knew that he would be eating majority of it, "Yes I am. I told them to add in a little more as a just in case thing."

"Hey Hina-chan," Naruto calls out for Hinata's attention before she takes a seat in his passenger side.

"Yes what is it, Naruto-kun?" Hinata ask in a polite tone once she closes the door behind her and buckles up for safety.

"Not to sound depressing or wishing ill will upon them but what do you really think about Sasuke and Akane's relationship?" Naruto asks the question that has been bothering him ever since they had left that party.

"I don't know yet." She claims truthfully when he shifts the car into reverse and backed up slowly down the small hill.

"I know Akane will be able to handle herself and even reign in Sasuke if she has to…but what about Sakura?" Naruto inquires bringing up their childhood friend's name.

Hinata unknowingly tenses up at the sound of her name when an image of Akane underneath the restroom stalls flashes in her mind.

"You know she still has some feelings for Sasuke and I don't think that they are no longer weak as before." Naruto remarks before driving down the street way.

"But she had her chance in high school and you can't say she did not capitalize on her opportunity either." Hinata opposes Naruto's logic with an valid augment on her own part.

"I mean they were even slated to be the high school sweethearts. It's actually funny to see how they could just mysteriously break up and come to find out that are seeing other people the very next day." Naruto adds in after hearing her answer.

'_How could I forget that! It was after we came back from our senior trip that those two became available to others. I wonder did something happen between Akane and Sasuke while we were on that trip?' _The thought pops up in her head.

Hinata was brought out of her thoughts when she speaks up. "Do you remember when we were on our senior trip and the bus ride back to school? We all noticed that Sasuke and Sakura were sitting apart from each other. He was sharing a seat with _Shino_!"

"I was just thinking the same freaking thing! On the ride up there they were sitting together and then they were separated from one another on the way back. When Kiba confronted them about it Sakura almost ripped him a new head." Naruto gives his viewpoint on the memory.

"And I remember that Akane was complaining about how she felt someone was glaring a hole in her the whole time she was on the trip." Hinata remembers something that Akane told her on the trip.

'_So what else could Sakura have planned for Akane and Sasuke?' _Hinata and Naruto thought before deciding to drop the subject.

0000

"Achoo" a sneeze was heard.

"Do you need any tissue Sakura-chan?" Rock Lee asks her after hearing her sneeze and thought that she was coming down with a cold.

"Oh no…I am good. Thanks for asking Lee, it was sweet of you." Sakura answers while looking at her date.

"No problem at all." Rock Lee states before turning his attention towards the people that were standing in front of them.

'_So it seems as if my name is popular among my so-called friends. I wonder what they could be talking about?' _Sakura thought after rubbing her now red nose with her right index finger.

'_Well it won't matter because I will be able to ask them personally in a couple of hours.' _Sakura thought before bringing a mixture of pink and blue sticky cotton candy towards her mouth before devouring it.

"Lee," "Do you think that I am a bad person?" Sakura poses towards her black haired companion.

"No I do not think so. What would make you ask me that Sakura-chan?" Rock Lee inquires with shock present on his face after hearing Sakura's question.

"So then I must be doing good since people don't appreciate what I do for them then." Sakura sounded as if she was trying to convince herself more then Lee.

'_Come on now, I know you are going to fall for it so I need for you just to swim a little faster Lee.' _Sakura inwardly thought to herself.

"Of course…as long as you continue on with your selfless service then I'm sure that they will have a better outlook on your character." Lee offers his opinion while placing his hands on her shoulders.

'_There it is…' _Sakura thought before trapping him a hug with fake tears streaming down her face.

"Lee...would you help me change my image to good? It seems as if someone, who is known for his kind heartiness could possibly help me with my reputation." Sakura states while burying her face into his chest.

"It is alright! I will lend you my helping hand but the road won't be easy and I can not promise you that I can not let up on you when you have accepted this kind of challenge." Lee answers while rubbing the top of her head with one of his hands.

"Oh…thank you Lee…you are a true friend." Sakura says while adding faking sobs and pauses in her statement for added effect.

Her plan seemed to work like a charm as Lee was eating, chewing, swallowing and even digesting every little story she told him.

'_You will make the perfect puppet in my plans on retrieving Sasuke from that girl.' _She thought while looking at her stomach for some reason.

0000

Akane was still in the passenger seat after Sasuke turns the car ignition off before looking over at her.

"You sure you are alright?" Sasuke inquires after noticing the look on her face.

Akane slowly turns her head to face Sasuke, "I feel just _peachy_. Can I just get out of the car now?"

Sasuke pushes the button to unlock the doors on the driver's side allowing Akane to exit the car in a hurried fashion.

'_Note to self never ride with Sasuke in his car again…_' she thought as she tries to calm her lurching stomach down from the motion sickness.

"Well it seems as if we are the first two here, are you going to call them to see where everyone else is?" Sasuke ask after exiting his car.

Akane holds up her index finger signaling him to give her one-minute, "God, what is your _ freaking_ problem? You nearly killed me there for a minute!"

"Is that why you had that look on your face?" Sasuke observes the same look that was still on her face from earlier.

Her head shoots up after hearing his question towards her, "How did you expect me to feel I just saw my life flash before my very own eyes and it was quite short if you ask me. What is your glitch?"

"That's right, I never told you…" he says after making his way to the back of his car before leaning against it.

"Told me what? Sasuke...do you really like guys because I mean I can understand if you want to call of our engagement." Akane responds after hearing what he said.

Sasuke stares at her with a weird look on his face, "No, oh god no, why would you ask me such a thing?"

Akane let out a nervous laugh while scratching her cheek and looking away from him, "As I was growing up, my dad always made sure that we were first at everything. So it has always been instill in us ever since we were little."

She covers her mouth with her hand preventing herself from saying the wrong thing after hearing what Sasuke just confessed to her. For some reason she could not help but to laugh at what he just told her.

"Is there something funny about what I said?" he asks her in a polite tone since he found her response to his statement unusual.

"No. It just all makes sense to me now. You always had to be first at everything that explains a whole lot with the way you acted in high school. Here I just thought…oh never mind."

He could not help but to crack a smile at her response, "So are you going to call to see where everyone is? I mean I do not like to sit in this parking waiting forever."

Akane nodded her head in agreement, "Do you have your phone on you?"

He reached in his phone holder and produced his cell phone and handed it to her, "You know what Sasuke…"

"What is it this time?" He asked in a polite manner once she took the phone from him.

"Thanks for telling me about that. Since you aren't the type of person that would ever tell others about yourself." Akane answers in a sincere tone.

"No problem." He simply responds before seeing her dial a phone number on his phone before bringing it to her ear.

The conversations she had with some one was brief and to the point, "Well they are about five and fifteen minutes away."


End file.
